` element is used to specify how to format initials of name parts.
**_initial_** is a pattern used to display a single initial in the locale, while **_initialSequence_** is a pattern used to “glue” together multiple initials for multiword fields, for example with the given name “Mary Beth” in English.
#### Syntax
```xml
```
The `type="initial"` is used to specify the pattern for how single initials are created, for example “Wolcott” => “W.” would have an entry of
> `{0}.`
`type="initialSequence`” is used to specify how a series of initials should appear, for example “Wolcott Janus” => “W. J.”, with spaces between each initial, would have a specifier of
> `{0} {1}`
## Person Name Object
The information that is to be formatted logically consists of a data object containing a number of fields. This data object is a construct for the purpose of formatting, and doesn’t represent the source of the name data. That is, the original source may contain more information. The PersonName object is merely a logical ‘transport’ of information to formatting; it may in actuality consist of, for example, an API that fetches fields from a database.
Note that an application might have more than one set of name data for a given person, such as data for both a legal name and a nickname or preferred name. Or the source data may contain two whole sets of name data for a person from an Eastern Slavic region, one in Cyrillic characters and one in Latin characters. Or it might contain phonetic data for a name (commonly used in Japan). The additional application-specific information in person’s names is out of scope for the CLDR Person Name formatting data. Thus a calling application may produce more than one PersonName object to format depending on the purpose.
For illustration, the following is a sample PersonName object.
| Field | Value | Comment |
| ---------------- | ------------ | ------------------------------- |
| `title` | “Dr.” | |
| `given` | “William” | |
| `given-informal` | “Bill” | example inclusion of "nickname" |
| `given2` | “Torval” | |
| `surname` | “Brown” | |
| `nameLocale` | “und-US” | this is just for illustration |
| `preferredOrder` | “givenFirst” | values are givenFirst and surnameFirst |
A PersonName object is logically composed of the fields above plus other possible variations. See [[Fields](#fields)]. There must be at least one field present: either a `given` or `surname` field. Other fields are optional, and some of them can be constructed from other fields if necessary.
A modifier is supplied, _-informal_, which can be used to indicate which data element to choose when formatting informal cases which might include nicknames or preferred names. For more details, see section on [_[Modifiers](#modifiers)_] in [namePattern Syntax](#namepattern-syntax) below.
## Person Name Attributes
A person name pattern may have any of four attributes: order, length, usage, and formality. LDML specifies that all the values for these attributes are unique. For example, because length=long is valid, usage=long cannot also be valid. That allows the pattern labels to be simple, because the attribute names can be skipped. That is,
> `{order=givenFirst, length=long, usage=referring, formality=formal}`
can be abbreviated without loss of information as:
> _givenFirst-long-referring-formal._
Each of these attributes are described below using sample PersonName objects as examples.
### order
The order attribute is used for patterns with different orders of fields. The order=sorting patterns are chosen based on input parameters, while the choice between givenFirst and surnameFirst is based on features of the PersonName object to be formatted and the nameOrder element values.
| Parameter | Description |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `givenFirst` | The given name precedes the surname. |
| `surnameFirst` | The surname precedes the given name. |
| `sorting` | Used to format names for a sorted list.
example: “Brown, William” [medium, informal] |
For example, when the display language is Japanese, it is customary to use _surnameFirst_ for names of people from Japan and Hungary, but use _givenFirst_ for names of people from the United States and France. Although the English pattern for sorting is distinct from the other patterns (except for unusual names), that is not necessarily the case in other languages.
### length
The `length` attribute specifies the relative length of a formatted name depending on context. For example, a `long` formal name in English might include title, given, given2, surname plus generation and credentials; whereas a `short` informal name may only be the given name.
Note that the formats may be the same for different lengths depending on the formality, usage, and cultural conventions for the locale. For example, medium and short may be the same for a particular context.
| Parameter | Description |
| --------- | ----------- |
| `long` | A `long` length would usually include all parts needed for a legal name or identification.
Example: `usage="referring", formality="formal"`
_“Mr. Robert John Smith, PhD”_ |
| `medium` | A `medium` length is between long and short.
Example: `usage="referring", formality="formal"`
_“Robert Smith”_ |
| `short` | A `short` length uses a minimum set of names.
Example: `usage="referring", formality="formal"`
_“Mr. Smith”_ |
### usage
The usage indicates if the formatted name is being used to address someone, refer to someone, or present their name in an abbreviated form.
The pattern for `usage="referring"` may be the same as the pattern for `usage="addressing"`.
| Parameter | Description |
| ------------ | ----------- |
| `addressing` | Used when speaking “to” a person, or “vocative” case. This may also have an effect on the formality.
example: “Welcome, **Robert**” |
| `referring` | Used when speaking “about” a person, or “nominative” case.
example: “**Robert Smith** joined your group” |
| `monogram` | The `monogram` usage is for a specific abbreviated form for computer UI.
Example: a monogram for Robert James Smith may be **RS** or **RJS**.|
Slavic languages provide a good example of `addressing` vs `referring`. An example _uk-Cyrl_ PersonName object:
| Field | Value | Comment |
| ---------------- | ------------ | ------------------------------- |
| `title` | “г-н” | “Mr.” |
| `given` | “Иван” | “Ivan” |
| `given2` | “Петрович” | “Petrovich” |
| `surname` | “Васильев” | “Vasiliev” |
In Slavic languages, when _`addressing`_ a person (with `length="long"`), it might be
* г-н Иван Петрович Васильев `// "Mr Ivan Petrovich Vasiliev"`
And when _`referring`_ to a person, it might place the surname first.:
* Васильев Иван Петрович `// "Vasiliev Ivan Petrovich"`
The `monogram` usage is for very short abbreviated names, such as might be found in online messaging text avatars or other annotations. Ideally, a `monogram` format should result in something that could fit in an em square. Some emoji provide examples of this: 🅰️ 🆎 🆘
When used with `length`, for many alphabetic locales a `monogram` would resolve to one, two, or three characters for short, medium, and long respectively. But that may vary depending on the usage in a locale.
### formality
The `formality` indicates the formality of usage. A name on a badge for an informal gathering may be much different from an award announcement at the Nobel Prize Ceremonies.
Note that the formats may be the same for different formality scenarios depending on the length, usage, and cultural conventions for the locale. For example short formal and short informal may both be just the given name.
| Parameter | Description |
| ---------- | ----------- |
| `formal` | A more formal name for the individual. The composition depends upon the language. For example, a particular locale might include the title, generation, credentials and a full middle name (given2) in the long form.
`length="medium", formality="formal"`
“Robert J. Smith” |
| `informal` | A less formal name for the individual. The composition depends upon the language. For example, a language might exclude the title, credentials and given2 (middle) name. Depending on the length, it may also exclude the surname. The formatting algorithm should choose any passed in name data that has an _informal_ attribute, if available.
`length="medium", formality="informal"`
“Bob Smith” |
## namePattern Syntax
A _namePattern_ is composed of a sequence of field IDs, each enclosed in curly braces, and separated by zero or more literal characters (eg, space or comma + space). An Extended Backus Normal Form (EBNF) is used to describe the namePattern format for a specific set of attributes. It has the following structure. This is the `( #PCDATA )` reference in the element specification above.
| | EBNF | Comments |
| ------------ | ----------------------------- | -------- |
| namePattern | = literal?
( modField literal? )+; | Two literals cannot be adjacent |
| modField | = '{' field modifierList? '}'; | A name field, optionally modified |
| field | = 'title'
\| 'given'
\| 'given2'
\| 'surname'
\| 'surname2'
\| 'generation'
\| 'credentials' ; | See [Fields](#fields) |
| modifierList | = '-informal'?
( '-allCaps' \| ‘-initialCap' )?;
( '-initial' \| '-monogram' )?
( '-prefix' \| '-core' )? | Optional modifiers that can be applied to name parts, see [Modifiers](#modifiers). Note that some modifiers are exclusive: only `prefix` or `core`, only `initial` or `monogram`, only `allCaps` or `initialCap`. |
| literal | = codepoint+ ; | One or more Unicode codepoints. |
### Fields
The Person Name formatting data assumes that the name data to be formatted consists of the fields in the table below. All of the fields may contain multiple words. Field IDs are lowercase ASCII alphanumeric, and start with an alphabetic character.
When determining how a full name is to be placed into name fields, the data to be formatted should be organized functionally. That is, if a name part is on the dividing line between `given2` and `given`, the key feature is whether it would always occur with the rest of the given name. For example, in _“Mary Jean Smith”_, if _“Mary”_ never occurs without the _“Jean”_, then the given name should be _“Mary Jean”_. If _“Smith”_ never occurs without the _“Jean”_, the `surname` should be _“Jean Smith”_. Otherwise, _“Jean”_ would be the `given2` field.
For example, a patronymic would be treated as a `given2` name in most slavic languages.
In some cultures, two surnames are used to indicate the paternal and maternal family names or generational names indicating father, grandfather. The `surname2` field is used to indicate this. The CLDR PersonName formatting data assumes that if a PersonName object to be formatted does not have two surnames, then the `surname2` field is not populated. (That is, no pattern should have a `surname2` field without a surname field.) Order of fields in a pattern can vary arbitrarily by locale.
In most cultures, there is a concept of nickname or preferred name, which is used in informal settings or sometimes to represent a “public” or “stage name”. The nickname or preferred name may be submitted as a separate PersonName object to be formatted, or included with a modifier such as `given-informal`.
| Field | Description
Note: The values for each are as supplied by the PersonName object, via the PersonName data interface. |
| ---------- | ----------- |
| `title` | A title or honorific qualifier.
Example: ‘Ms.’, ‘Mr.’, ’Dr’, ‘President’
Note that CLDR PersonName formats data does not define regional or locale-specific lists of titles or honorifics such as “Mr”, “Ms”, “Mx”, “Prof”, etc. |
| `given` | The “given” name. Can be multiple words such as “Mary Ann”.
Examples: “Janus”, “Mary Jean”, or “Jean-Louis”|
| `given2` | Additional given name or names or middle name, usually names(s) written between the given and surname. Can be multiple words. In some references, also known as a “second” or “additional” given name or patronymic. This field is separate from the “given” field because it is often optional in various presentation forms.
Examples: “Horatio Wallace” as in
`{ given: "Janus", `**`given2: "Horatio Wallace"`**`, surname: "Young" }`
“S.” as in “Harry S. Truman”. Yes, his full middle name was legally just “S.”.|
| `surname` | The “family name”. Can be more than one word.
Example: “van Gogh” as in
`{ given: "Vincent", given2: "Willem", `**`surname: "van Gogh"`**` }`
Other examples: “Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby” as in “William Emanuel Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby III”|
| `surname2` | Secondary surname (used in some cultures), such as second or maternal surname in Mexico and Spain. This field is separate from the “surname” field because it is often optional in various presentation forms, and is considered a separate distinct name in some cultures.
Example: “Barrientos” in “Diego Rivera Barrientos”;
`{ given: "Diego", surname: "Rivera", `**`surname2: "Barrientos"`**` }`
Example: if "Mary Jane Smith" moves to Spain the new name may be
`{ given: "Mary", given2: "Jane", surname: "Smith", `**`surname2: "Jones"`**` }`|
| `credentials` | A credential or accreditation qualifier.
Example: “PhD”, “MBA”
Example: “Salvatore Jarvis MBA”
`{ given: "Salvatore", given2: "Blinken", surname: "Jarvis", `**`credentials: "MBA"`**` }`
An alternate PersonName object may be presented for formatting using the “stage” name from the application’s data:
`{ given: "Salvatore", given-informal: "Salvatore", given2: "", surname: "Jarvis", `**`credentials: "MBA"`**` }` |
| `generation` | A generation qualifier.
Example: “III”, “Jr.”
Example: “Sonny Jarvis Jr.”
`{ given: "Salvatore", given2: "Blinken", surname: "Jarvis", `**`generation: "Jr."`**` }` |
Some other examples:
* British name: _John Ronald Reuel Tolkien_: `given` name is "John", `given2` name would be "Ronald Reuel", and the `surame` is "Tolkien".
* Dutch name: _Anneliese Louise van der Pol_: `given` name: "Anneliese", `given2` name: "Louise", `surname`: "van der Pol"
* Also surname-prefix: “van der”, surname-core: “Pol” — see below.
* French name: “Jean-Louis Trintignant” would _not_ be Jean (`given`) Louis (`given2`) Trintignant (`surname`), since “Louis” wouldn’t be discarded when formatting. Instead it would be Jean-Louis (`given`) Trintignant (`surname`)
Note: If the legal name, stage name, etc. are substantially different, then that information can be logically in a separate PersonName object. That is, it is up to the implementation to maintain any distinctions that are important to it: CLDR PersonName formats is focusing on formatting a PersonName object that is given to it.
`surname2` would only be asked for in certain locales, and where it is considered a separate, divisible name, such as in Mexico or Spain. For instance, in Mexico, the first and second surname are used for the legal name and in formal settings, and sometimes only the first surname is used in familiar or informal contexts.
* Heathcote-Drummond is a single surname and would not be `{surname}-{surname2}` because we would never discard part of the name when formatting.
* Spanish name: "Jose Luis Garcia Barrientos": The `given` name is “Jose”, the `given2` name is “Luis”, the `surname` is "Garcia”, and the `surname2` is “Barrientos"
How names get placed into fields to be formatted is beyond the scope of CLDR PersonName formats; this document just lays out the assumptions the formatting code makes when formatting the names.
### Modifiers
Each field in a pattern can have one or more modifiers. The modifiers can be appended to any field name, such as `{given-initial}` for the first grapheme of the given name. If more than one modifier is applied, they must be structured as in the EBNF.
The modifiers transform the input data as described in the following table:
| Modifier | Description |
| ---------- | ----------- |
| informal | Requests an informal version of the name if available. For example, {given} might be “Thomas”, and {given-informal} might be “Tom”. If there is no informal version, then the normal one is returned. An informal version should not be generated, because they vary too much: Beth, Betty, Betsy, Bette, Liz, … |
| prefix | Return the “prefix” name, or the “tussenvoegsel'' if present. For example, “van der Poel” becomes “van der”, “bint Fadi” becomes “bint”, “di Santis” becomes “di”. Note that what constitutes the prefix is language- and locale-sensitive. It may be passed in as part of the PersonName object, similar to the _“-informal”_ modifier, e.g. as _“surname-prefix”_.
The implementation of this modifier depends on the PersonName object. CLDR does not currently provide support for automatic identification of tussenvoegsels, but may in the future.
If the resulting _“-prefix”_ value is empty, it defaults to an empty string.
An example sorting pattern for “Johannes van den Berg” may be
{surname-core}, {given} {given2} {surname-prefix}
Only the _“-prefix”_ or the _“-core”_ modifier may be used, but not both. They are mutually exclusive. |
| core | Return the “core” name, removing any tussenvoegsel. For example, “van der Poel” becomes “Poel”, “bint Fadi” becomes “Fadi”, “di Santis” becomes “Santis”. Note that what constitutes the core is language- and locale-sensitive.
The implementation of this modifier depends on the PersonName object. CLDR does not currently provide support for identification of tussenvoegsel, but may in the future.
If the resulting _“-core”_ value is empty, it defaults to the field it modifies. E.g., if _“surname-core”_ is empty in the PersonName object to be formatted, it will default to the _“surname”_ field.
Vice-versa, if the _surname_ field is empty, the formatter will attempt to use _surname-prefix_ and _surname-core_, if present, to format the name.
Only the _“-prefix”_ or the _“-core”_ modifier may be used, but not both. They are mutually exclusive. |
| allCaps | Requests the element in all caps, which is desired In some contexts. For example, a new guideline in Japan is that for the Latin representation of Japanese names, the family name comes first and is presented in all capitals. This would be represented as
“{surname-allCaps} {given}”
Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿) would be represented in Latin characters in Japan (ja-Latn-JP) as _“MIYAZAKI Hayao”_
_The default implementation uses the default Unicode uppercase algorithm; if the PersonName object being formatted has a locale, and CLDR supports a locale-specific algorithm for that locale, then that algorithm is used. The PersonName object can override this, as detailed below._
Only the _“-allCaps”_ or the _“-initalCap”_ modifier may be used, but not both. They are mutually exclusive. |
| initialCap | Request the element with the first grapheme capitalized, and remaining characters unchanged. This is used in cases where an element is usually in lower case but may need to be modified. For example in Dutch, the name
{ title: “dhr.”, given: ”Johannes”, surname: “van den Berg” },
when addressed formally, would need to be “dhr. Van den Berg”. This would be represented as
“{title} {surname-initialCap}”
Only the _“-allCaps”_ or the _“-initalCap”_ modifier may be used, but not both. They are mutually exclusive. |
| initial | Requests the initial grapheme cluster of each word in a field. The `initialPattern` patterns for the locale are used to create the format and layout for lists of initials. For example, if the initialPattern types are
`{0}.`
`{0} {1}`
then a name such as
{ given: “John”, given2: “Ronald Reuel”, surname: “Tolkien” }
could be represented as
“{given-initial-allCaps} {given2-initial-allCaps} {surname}”
and will format to “**J. R. R. Tolkien**”
_The default implementation uses the first grapheme cluster of each word for the value for the field; if the PersonName object has a locale, and CLDR supports a locale-specific grapheme cluster algorithm for that locale, then that algorithm is used. The PersonName object can override this, as detailed below._
Only the _“-initial”_ or the _“-monogram”_ modifier may be used, but not both. They are mutually exclusive. |
| monogram | Requests initial grapheme. Example: A name such as
{ given: “Landon”, given2: “Bainard Crawford”, surname: “Johnson” }
could be represented as
“{given-monogram-allCaps}{given2-monogram-allCaps}{surname-monogram-allCaps}”
or “**LBJ**”
_The default implementation uses the first grapheme cluster of the value for the field; if the PersonName object has a locale, and CLDR supports a locale-specific grapheme cluster algorithm for that locale, then that algorithm is used. The PersonName object can override this, as detailed below. The difference between monogram an initial is that monogram only returns one element, not one element per word._
Only the _“-initial”_ or the _“-monogram”_ modifier may be used, but not both. They are mutually exclusive. |
| retain | This is needed in languages that preserve punctuation when forming initials. For example, normally the name {given=Anne-Marie} is converted into initials with {given-initialCaps} as “A. M.”. However, where a language preserves the hyphen, the pattern should use {given-initialCaps**-retain**} instead. In that case, the result is “A.-M.”. (The periods are added by the pattern-initialSequence.) |
| genitive, vocative | Patterns can use these modifiers so that better results can be obtained for inflected languages. However, see the details below. |
#### Grammatical Modifiers for Names
The CLDR person name formatting does not itself support grammatical inflection.
However, name sources (NameObject) can support inflections, either by having additional fields or by using an inflection engine that can handle personal name parts.
In the current release, the focus is on supporting `referring` and `addressing` forms.
Typically the `referring` forms will be in the most neutral (*nominative*) case, and the `addressing` forms will be in the *vocative* case.
Some modifiers have been added to facilitate this, so that there can be patterns like: {given-vocative} {surname-vocative}.
Notice that some **parts** of the formatted name may be in different grammatical cases, so the cases may not be consistent across the whole name.
For example:
| English Pattern | Examples | Latvian Pattern | Examples |
| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
| {given} {surname} | John Smith | {given} {surname} | Kārlis Ozoliņš |
| {title} {surname} | Mr Smith | {surname} {title} | Ozoliņa kungs |
Notice that the `surname` in Latvian needs to change to the genitive case with that pattern:
Ozoliņš ➡︎ **Ozoliņa**
That is accomplished by changing the pattern to be {surname-genitive} {title}. In this case the {surname} should only be genitive if followed by the {title}.
#### Future Modifiers
Additional modifiers may be added in future versions of CLDR.
Examples:
1. For the initial of the surname **_“de Souza”_**, in a language that treats the “de” as a tussenvoegsel, the PersonName object can automatically recast `{surname-initial}` to:
`{surname-prefix-initial}{surname-core-initial-allCaps} `to get “dS” instead of “d”.
2. If the locale expects a surname prefix to to be sorted after a surname, then both `{surname-core} `then `{surname-prefix}` would be used as in
`{surname-core}, {given} {given2} {surname-prefix}`
3. Only the grammatical modifiers requested by translators for `referring` or `addressing` have been added as yet, but additional grammatical modifiers may be added in the future.
## Formatting Process
The patterns are in **personName** elements, which are themselves in a **personNames** container element. The following describes how the formatter's locale interacts with the personName's locale, how the name patterns are chosen, and how they are processed.
The details of the XML structure behind the data referenced here are in [XML Structure](#xml-structure).
The formatting process may be refined in the future. In particular, additional data may be added to allow further customization.
The term **maximal likely locale** used below is the result of using the [Likely Subtags](tr35.md#Likely_Subtags) data to map from a locale to a full representation that includes the base language, script, and region.
### Derive the name locale
Construct the **name script** in the following way.
1. Iterate through the characters of the surname, then through the given name.
1. Find the script of that character using the Script property.
2. If the script is not Common, Inherited, nor Unknown, return that script as the **name script**
2. If nothing is found during the iteration, return Zzzz (Unknown Script)
Construct the **name base language** in the following way.
1. If the PersonName object can provide a name locale, return its language.
2. Otherwise, find the maximal likely locale for the name script and return its base language (first subtag).
Construct the **name locale** in the following way:
1. If the PersonName object can provide a name locale, return a locale formed from it by replacing its script by the name script.
2. Otherwise, return the locale formed from the name base language plus name script.
Construct the **name ordering locale** in the following way:
1. If the PersonName object can provide a name locale, return it.
2. Otherwise, return the maximal likely locale for “und-” + name script.
### Derive the formatting locale
Let the **full formatting locale** be the maximal likely locale for the formatter's locale. The **formatting base language** is the base language (first subtag) of the full formatting locale, and the **formatting script** is the script code of the full formatting locale.
#### Switch the formatting locale if necessary
A few script values represent a set of scripts, such as Jpan = {Hani, Kana, Hira}. Two script codes are said to _match_ when they are either identical, or one represents a set which contains the other, or they both represent sets which intersect. For example, Hani and Jpan match, because {Hani, Kana, Hira} contains Hani.
If the **name script** doesn't match the **formatting script**:
1. If the name locale has name formatting data, then set the formatting locale to the name locale.
2. Otherwise, set the formatting locale to the maximal likely locale for the the locale formed from und, plus the name script plus the region of the nameLocale.
For example, when a Hindi (Devanagari) formatter is called upon to format a name object that has the locale Ukrainian (Cyrillic):
* If the name is written with Cyrillic letters, under the covers a Ukrainian (Cyrillic) formatter should be instantiated and used to format that name.
* If the name is written in Greek letters, then under the covers a Greek (Greek-script) formatter should be instantiated and used to format.
To determine whether there is name formatting data for a locale, get the values for each of the following paths.
If at least one of them doesn’t inherit their value from root, then the locale has name formatting data.
* //ldml/personNames/nameOrderLocales[@order="givenFirst"]
* //ldml/personNames/nameOrderLocales[@order="surnameFirst"]
### Derive the name order
A PersonName object’s fields are used to derive an order, as follows:
1. If the calling API requests sorting order, that is used.
2. Otherwise, if the PersonName object to be formatted has a `preferredOrder` field, then return that field’s value
3. Otherwise, use the nameOrderLocales elements to find the best match for the name locale, as follows.
1. For each locale L1 in the parent locale lookup chain* for the **name ordering locale**, do the following
1. Create a locale L2 by replacing the language subtag by 'und'. (Eg, 'de_DE' ⇒ 'und_DE')
2. For each locale L in {L1, L2}, do the following
1. If there is a precise match among the givenFirst nameOrderLocales for L, then let the nameOrder be givenFirst, and stop.
2. Otherwise if there is a precise match among the surnameFirst nameOrderLocales for L, then let the nameOrder be surnameFirst, and stop.
2. Otherwise, let the nameOrder be givenFirst, and stop.
\* For example, here is a parent locale lookup chain:
de_Latn_DE ⇒ de_Latn ⇒ de_DE ⇒ de ⇒ und
In other words, with the name locale of `de_Latin_DE` you'll check the givenFirst and surnameFirst resources for the following locales, in this order:
de_Latin_DE, und_Latn_DE, de_Latn, und_Latn, de_DE, und_DE, de, und
This process will always terminate, because there is always a und value in one of the two nameOrderLocales elements. Remember that the lookup chain requires use of the parentLocales elements: it is not just truncation.
For example, the data for a particular locale might look like the following:
```xml
zh ja und-CN und-TW und-SG und-HK und-MO und-HU und-JP
```
These nameOrderLocales will match any locale with a zh or ja [unicode_language_subtag](tr35.md#unicode_language_subtag) and any locale with a CN, TW, SG, HK MO, HU, or JP [unicode_region_subtag](tr35.md#unicode_region_subtag).
Here are some more examples. Note that if there is no order field or locale field in the PersonName object to be formatted, and the script of the PersonName data is different from that of the formatting locale, then the default result is givenFirst.
| PersonName Object preferredOrder | PersonName Object Locale | Resulting Order |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------ | --------------- |
| surnameFirst | ? | surnameFirst |
| | zh | surnameFirst |
| | und-JP | surnameFirst |
| | fr | givenFirst |
| | | givenFirst |
### Choose a personName element
The personName data in CLDR provides representations for how names are to be formatted across the different axes of _order_, _length_, _usage_, and _formality_. More than one `namePattern` can be associated with a single `personName` entry. An algorithm is then used to choose the best `namePattern` to use.
As an example for English, this may look like:
```xml
{title} {given} {given2} {surname}, {credentials}
{given} «{given2}» {surname}
«{given2}» {surname}
{surname}, {given} {given2}
...
```
The task is to find the best personName for a given set of input attributes. Well-formed data will always cover all possible combinations of the input parameters, so the algorithm is simple: traverse the list of person names until the first match is found, then return it.
In more detail:
A set of input parameters { order=O length=L usage=U formality=F } matches a personName element when:
* The order attribute values contain O or there is no order attribute, and
* The length attribute values contain L or there is no length attribute, and
* The usage attribute values contain U or there is no usage attribute, and
* The formality attribute values contain F or there is no formality attribute
Example for input parameters
> `order = `**`givenFirst`**`, length = `**`long`**`, usage = `**`referring`**`, formality = `**`formal`**
To match a personName, all four attributes in the personName must match (a missing attribute matches any value for that attribute):
| Sample personName attributes | Matches? | Comment |
| :----------------------------------------------------------- | :------: | :------ |
| `order=`_`"givenFirst"`_` length=`_`"long"`_` usage=`_`"referring"`_` formality=`_`"formal"`_ | Y | exact match |
| `length=`_`"long"`_` usage=`_`"referring"`_` formality=`_`"informal"`_ | N | mismatch for formality |
| `length=`_`"long"`_` formality=`_`"formal"`_ | Y | missing usage = all! |
To find the matching personName element, traverse all the personNames in order until the first one is found. This will always terminate since the data is well-formed in CLDR.
### Choose a namePattern
To format a name, the fields in a namePattern are replaced with fields fetched from the PersonName Data Interface. The personName element can contain multiple namePattern elements. Choose one based on the fields in the input PersonName object that are populated:
1. Find the set of patterns with the most populated fields.
2. If there is just one element in that set, use it.
2. Otherwise, among that set, find the set of patterns with the fewest unpopulated fields.
3. If there is just one element in that set, use it.
4. Otherwise, take the pattern that is alphabetically least. (This step should rarely happen, and is only for producing a determinant result.)
For example:
1. Pattern A has 12 fields total, pattern B has 10 fields total, and pattern C has 8 fields total.
2. Both patterns A and B can be populated with 7 fields from the input PersonName object, pattern C can be populated with only 3 fields from the input PersonName object.
3. Pattern C is discarded, because it has the least number of populated name fields.
4. Out of the remaining patterns A and B, pattern B wins, because it has only 3 unpopulated fields compared to pattern A.
### Access PersonName object
#### Handle missing surname
All PersonName objects will have a given name (for mononyms the given name is used). However, there may not be a surname. In that case, the following process is followed so that formatted patterns produce reasonable results.
1. If there is no surname from a PersonName P1 _and_ the pattern either doesn't include the given name or only shows an initial for the given name, then:
1. Construct and use a derived PersonName P2, whereby P2 behaves exactly as P1 except that:
1. Any request for a surname field (with any modifiers) returns P1's given name (with the same modifiers)
2. Any request for a given name field (with any modifiers) returns "" (empty string)
As always, this is a logical description and may be optimized in implementations. For example, an implemenation may use an interface for P2 that just delegates calls to P1, with some redirection for accesses to surname and given name.
#### Handle core and prefix
A given field may have a core value, a prefix value, and/or a ‘plain’ value (neither core nor prefix). If one or more of them are missing, then the returned values should be adjusted according to the table below. In the three cells on the left, a ✓ indicates that a value is available, an ✖️ if there is none. In three cells on the right, the value of = means the returned value is unchanged, ✖️ means the returned value is “empty”, and anything else is a description of what to change it to.
| prefix | core | plain | | prefix | core | plain |
| ------ | ---- | ----- |-| ------ | ---- | ----- |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | = | = | = |
| ✓ | ✖️ | ✓ | | ✖️ | plain | = |
| ✖️ | ✓ | ✓ | | = | plain | = |
| ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | | = | plain | = |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✖️ | | = | = | prefix + " " + core |
| ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | | = | = | core |
| ✓ | ✖️ | ✖️ | | ✖️ | = | = |
| ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | | = | = | = |
For example, if the surname-prefix is "von und zu" and the surname-core is "Stettbach" and there is no surname (plain), then the derived value for the (plain) surname is "von und zu Stettbach". (The cases where existing prefix values are changed should not be necessary with well-formed PersonName data.)
#### Derive initials
The following process is used to produce initials when they are not supplied by the PersonName object. Assuming the input example is “Mary Beth”:
| Action | Result |
| ------------------- | ------ |
| 1. Split into words | “Mary” and “Beth” |
| 2. Fetch the first grapheme cluster of each word | “M” and “B” |
| 3. The ***initial*** pattern is applied to each
` {0}.` | “M.” and “B.” |
| 4. Finally recombined with ***initialSequence***
` {0} {1}` | “M. B.” |
See the “initial” modifier in the [Modifiers](#modifiers) section for more details.
### Process a namePattern
The “winning” namePattern may still have fields that are unpopulated (empty) in the PersonName object. That namePattern is populated with field values with the following steps:
1. If one or more fields at the start of the pattern are empty, all fields and literal text before the **first** populated field are omitted.
2. If one or more fields at the end of the pattern are empty, all fields and literal text after the **last** populated field are omitted.
3. Processing from the start of the remaining pattern:
1. If there are two or more empty fields separated only by literals, the fields and the literals between them are removed.
2. If there is a single empty field, it is removed.
4. If the processing from step 3 results in two adjacent literals (call them A and B), they are coalesced into one literal as follows:
1. If either is empty the result is the other one.
2. If B matches the end of A, then the result is A. So xyz + yz ⇒ xyz, and xyz + xyz ⇒ xyz.
3. Otherwise the result is A + B, further modified by replacing any sequence of two or more white space characters by the first whitespace character.
5. All of the fields are replaced by the corresponding values from the PersonName object.
The result is the **formatted value**. However, there is one further step that might further modify that value.
#### Handling foreign names
There are two main challenges in dealing with foreign name formatting that needs to be considered. One is the ordering, which is dealt with under the section [nameOrderLocales Element](#nameorderlocales-element)]. The other is spacing.
Some writing systems require spaces (or some other non-letters) to separate words. For example, [Hayao Miyazaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki) is written in English with given name first and with a space between the two name fields, while in Japanese there is no space with surname first: [宮崎駿](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%AE%E5%B4%8E%E9%A7%BF)
If a locale requires spaces between words, the normal patterns for the formatting locale are used. On Wikipedia, for example, note the space within the Japanese name on pages from English and Korean (an ideographic space is used here for emphasis).
* “[Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿, Miyazaki Hayao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki)…” or
* “[미야자키 하야오(일본어: 宮﨑 駿 Miyazaki Hayao](https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%AF%B8%EC%95%BC%EC%9E%90%ED%82%A4_%ED%95%98%EC%95%BC%EC%98%A4)…”.
If a locale **doesn’t** require spaces between words, there are two cases, based on whether the name is foreign or not (based on the PersonName objects explicit or calculated locale's language subtag). For example, the formatting locale might be Japanese, and the locale of the PersonName object might be de_CH, German (Switzerland), such as Albert Einstein. When the locale is foreign, the **foreignSpaceReplacement** is substituted for each space in the formatted name. When the name locale is native, a **nativeSpaceReplacement** is substituted for each space in the formatted name. The precise algorithm is given below.
Here are examples for Albert Einstein in Japanese and Chinese:
* [アルベルト・アインシュタイン](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AB%E3%83%99%E3%83%AB%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A5%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3)
* [阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%98%BF%E5%B0%94%E4%BC%AF%E7%89%B9%C2%B7%E7%88%B1%E5%9B%A0%E6%96%AF%E5%9D%A6)
#### Setting the spaceReplacement
1. The foreignSpaceReplacement is provided by the value for the `foreignSpaceReplacement` element; the default value is a SPACE (" ").
2. The nativeSpaceReplacement is provided by the value for the `nativeSpaceReplacement` element; the default value is SPACE (" ").
3. If the formatter base language matches the name base language, then let spaceReplacement = nativeSpaceReplacement, otherwise let spaceReplacement = foreignSpaceReplacement.
4. Replace all sequences of space in the formatted value string by the spaceReplacement.
For the purposes of this algorithm, two base languages are said to __match__ when they are identical, or if both are in {ja, zh, yue}.
**Note:** in the future the plan is to make the specific languages and scripts used in this algorithm be data-driven.
Remember that **a name in a different script** will use a different locale for formatting, as per [Switch the formatting locale if necessary](#switch-the-formatting-locale-if-necessary).
For example, when formatting a name for Japanese, if the name is in the Latin script, a Latin based locale will be used to format it, such as when “Albert Einstein” appears in Latin characters as in the Wikipedia page [Albert Einstein](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein).
#### Examples of space replacement
To illustrate how foreign space replacement works, consider the following name data. For illustration, the name locale is given in the maximized form: in practice, `ja` would be used instead of `ja_Jpan_JP`, and so on.: For more information, see [Likely Subtags](tr35.md#Likely_Subtags).
| name locale | given | surname |
| ------------- | -------- | ------------- |
| `de_Latn_CH` | Albert | Einstein |
| `de_Kata_CH` | アルベルト | アインシュタイン |
| `ja_Kata_CH` | アルベルト | アインシュタイン |
| `ja_Latn_JP` | Hayao | Miyazaki |
| `ja_Jpan_JP` | 駿 | 宮崎 |
Suppose the PersonNames formatting patterns for `ja_JP` and `de_CH` contained the following:
**`ja_JP` formatting patterns**
<personNames>
<nameOrderLocales order="givenFirst">und</nameOrderLocales>
<nameOrderLocales order="surnameFirst">hu ja ko vi yue zh und_JP</nameOrderLocales>
<nativeSpaceReplacement xml:space="preserve"></nativeSpaceReplacement>
<foreignSpaceReplacement xml:space="preserve">・</foreignSpaceReplacement>
. . .
<personName order="givenFirst" length="medium" usage="referring" formality="formal">
<namePattern>{given} {given2} {surname}{generation}</namePattern>
</personName>
. . .
<personName order="surnameFirst" length="medium" usage="referring" formality="formal">
<namePattern>{surname}{given2}{given}{generation}</namePattern>
</personName>
. . .
</personNames>
Note in the `de_CH` locale, _ja_ is not listed in nameOrderLocales, and would therefore fall under _und_, and be formatted using the givenFirst order patterns if the name data is in the same script as the formatting locale.
**`de_CH` formatting patterns**
<personNames>
<nameOrderLocales order="givenFirst">und de</nameOrderLocales>
<nameOrderLocales order="surnameFirst">ko vi yue zh</nameOrderLocales>
<foreignSpaceReplacemen xml:space="preserve"> </foreignSpaceReplacement>
. . .
<personName order="givenFirst" length="medium" usage="referring" formality="formal">
<namePattern>{given} {given2-initial} {surname}, {generation}</namePattern>
</personName>
. . .
<personName order="surnameFirst" length="medium" usage="referring" formality="formal">
<namePattern>{surname}, {given} {given2-initial}, {generation}</namePattern>
</personName>
. . .
</personNames>`
The name data would resolve as follows:
| formatting locale: ja_JP, script is Jpan which includes Hani, Hira and Kana |
| name locale |
given |
surname |
same
script |
formatting
locale
order |
foreign
space |
|
| de_Latn_CH |
Albert |
Einstein |
NO |
de |
given First |
|
| “Albert Einstein” |
| de_Jpan_CH |
アルベルト |
アインシュタイン |
YES |
und |
given First |
“・” |
| “アルベルト・アインシュタイン” |
| ja_Jpan_JP |
駿 |
宮崎 |
YES |
ja |
surname First |
|
| 宮崎駿 |
| formatting locale: de_CH, formatting locale script is Latn |
| name locale |
given |
surname |
same
script |
formatting
locale |
order |
foreign
space |
| de_Latn_CH |
Albert |
Einstein |
YES |
de |
given First |
|
| “Albert Einstein” |
| de_Jpan_CH |
アルベルト |
アインシュタイン |
NO |
ja
from script |
given First |
“・” |
| “アルベルト・アインシュタイン” |
| und_Latn_JP |
Hayao |
Miyazaki |
YES |
und |
given First |
“ ” |
| “Hayao Miyazaki” |
### Formatting examples
The personName element contains:
> `{title} {given} {given2} {surname}, {credentials}`
The input PersonName object contains:
| `title` | `given` | `given2` | `surname` | `generation` |
| -------- | ------- | -------- | --------- | -------- |
| | Raymond | J. | Johnson | Jr. |
The output is:
> Raymond J. Johnson, Jr.
The “title” field is empty, and so both it and the space that follows it are omitted from the output, according to rule 1 above.
If, instead, the input PersonName object contains:
| `title` | `given` | `given2` | `surname` | `generation` |
| -------- | ------- | -------- | --------- | -------- |
| | Raymond | J. | Johnson | |
The output is:
> Raymond J. Johnson
The “title” field is empty, and so both it and the space that follows it are omitted from the output, according to rule 1 above.
The “generation” field is also empty, so it and both the comma and the space that precede it are omitted from the output, according to rule 2 above.
To see how rule 3 interacts with the other rules, consider an imaginary language in which people generally have given and given2 (or middle) names, and the given2 name is always written with parentheses around it, and the given name is usually written as an initial with a following period.
The personName element contains:
> `{given-initial}. ({given2}) {surname}`
The input PersonName object contains:
| `given` | `given2` | `surname` |
| ------- | -------- | --------- |
| Foo | Bar | Baz |
The output is:
> F. (Bar) Baz
If, instead, the input PersonName object contains:
| `given` | `given2` | `surname` |
| ------- | -------- | --------- |
| Foo | | Baz |
The output is:
> F. Baz
The “given2” field is empty, so it and the surrounding parentheses are omitted from the output, as is one of the surrounding spaces, according to rule 3. The period after “{given-initial}” remains, because it is separated from the “{given2}” element by space-- punctuation around a missing field is only deleted up until the closest space in each direction.
If there were no space between the period and the parentheses, as might happen if our hypothetical language didn’t use spaces:
> `{given-initial}.({given2}) {surname}`
The input PersonName object still contains:
| `given` | `given2` | `surname` |
| ------- | -------- | --------- |
| Foo | | Baz |
The output is:
> F Baz
Both the period after “{given-initial}” _and_ the parentheses around “{given2}” are omitted from the output, because there was no space between them — instead, we delete punctuation all the way up to the neighboring field. To solve this (making sure the “{given-initial}” field always has a period after it), you would add another namePattern:
> `{given-initial}.({given2}) {surname}`
> `{given-initial}. {surname}`
The first pattern would be used when the “given2” field is populated, and the second pattern would be used when the “given2” field is empty.
Rules 1 and 3 can conflict in similar ways. If the personName element contains (there’s a space between the period and the opening parenthesis again):
> `{given-initial}. ({given2}) {surname}`
And the input PersonName object contains:
| `given` | `given2` | `surname` |
| ------- | -------- | --------- |
| | Bar | Baz |
The output is:
> Bar) Baz
Because the “given” field is empty, rule 1 not only has us delete it, but also all punctuation up to “{given2}”. This includes _both_ the period _and_ the opening parenthesis. Again, to solve this, you’d supply two namePatterns:
> `{given-initial}. ({given2}) {surname}`
> ` ({given2}) {surname}`
The output would then be:
> (Bar) Baz
The first namePattern would be used if the “given” field was populated, and the second would be used if it was empty.
If, instead, the input PersonName object contains:
| `given` | `given2` | `surname` |
| ------- | -------- | --------- |
| Foo | | Baz |
The output is:
> F. Baz
## Sample Name
The sampleName element is used for test names in the personNames LDML data for each locale to aid in testing and display in the CLDR Survey Tool. They are not intended to be used in production software as prompts or placeholders in a user interface and should not be displayed in a user interface.
### Syntax
```xml
```
* `NMTOKEN` must be one of `( nativeG, nativeGS, nativeGGS, nativeFull, foreignG, foreignGS, foreignGGS, foreignFull )`. However, these may change arbitrarily in the future.
### Expected values
The item values starting with "native" are expected to be native names, in native script.
The item values starting with "foreign" are expected to be foreign names, in native script.
There are no foreign names or native names in a foreign script, because those should be handled by a different locale's data.
The rest of the item value indicates how many fields are present.
For the expected sample name items, assume a name such as Mr. Richard “Rich” Edward Smith Iglesias Ph.D.
* `G` is for an example name with only the given is presented: “Richard” or “Rich” (informal)
* `GS` is for an example name with only the given name and surname: “Richard Smith” or “Rich Smith” (informal)
* `GSS` is for an example using both given and given2 names and a surname: “Richard Edward Smith” and “Rich E. Smith” (informal)
* `Full` is used to present a name using all possible fields: “Mr. Richard Edward Smith Iglesias, Ph.D.”
The `nameField` values and their modifiers are described in the [Person Name Object](#person-name-object) and [namePattern Syntax](#namepattern-syntax) sections.
## PersonName Data Interface Examples
### Example 1
Greek initials can be produced via the following process in the PersonName object, and returned to the formatter.
* Include all letters up through the first consonant or digraph (including the consonant or digraph).
(This is a simplified version of the actual process.)
Examples:
* Χριστίνα Λόπεζ (Christina Lopez) ⟶ Χ. Λόπεζ (C. Lopez)
* Ντέιβιντ Λόπεζ (David Lopez) ⟶ Ντ. Λόπεζ (D. Lopez)
Note that Ντ is a digraph representing the sound D.
### Example 2
To make an initial when there are multiple words, an implementation might produce the following:
* A field containing multiple words might skip some of them, such as in “Mohammed bin Ali bin Osman” (“MAO”).
* The short version of "Son Heung-min" is "H. Son" and not "H. M. Son" or the like. Korean given-names have hyphens and the part after the hyphen is lower-case.
* * *
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