Introduction: PROCESSING NAMES

This paper introduces a system for managing the standardization process of four types of names: 1) personal names, 2) locality names, 3) date designations, and 4) kinship terms. The management system requires administrators at two levels of expertise. The first is the expert with regard to a particular culture and its naming customs and conventions. The job of the name expert is to put name spellings together as variants of a standard name group. The reason for standardization is to improve the effectiveness of the search and retrieval of data entities that use names as their principal identifiers. The second level is the linguist, who knows about rule-driven systems of structural descriptions for natural languages. The linguist’s job is to discover and validate the best rules for the various cultures of the names.

The first chapter is for administrators at both levels. It outlines the linguistic principles involved in producing standards. These principles are a part of onomastics — the study of names, whether personal names, geographical names, the names of ships, buildings, business entities, government agencies, etc.. The principles are general enough to regulate a methodology for the analysis of any names of whatever type. In fact, we have found it useful to extend these principles to the analysis of other parts of the language. In this regard we will include some analysis of kinship systems and some naming customs based on them.

The second chapter is directed more to the linguist. It gives a more specific and in-depth analysis of the 1) personal names, 2) locality names, 3) time period names, 4) kinship terms.

The third chapter deals with the very important considerations relating to name derivations. The philosophy that develops out of the analysis of derivation directs the name expert in making name grouping decisions.

The fourth chapter contains a short description of an administrative system built to manage the process of standardization. This system manages knowledge about name pieces — the individual distinctive meaning-carrying words or parts of words that make up names.

An appendix explains how the whole effort of standardization is focused on an improvement in the performance of record linkage when the personal record identifiers take the form of names, vital events (comprised of date and place designations), and family relationships.