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I have always followed the rule of considering a surname as one word when
hyphenated and sorted by the first. For example:
Suzette Seveny-Leeming would be sorted as:
Seveny-Leeming, Suzette
When surnames are not hyphenated, I sort by the last name only. Sometimes I
cannot differentiate between surnames and given names. I see so many different
nationalities and names that I would not even recognize as names. I can't be a
mind reader, and no offense to anyone who has one of these names. I work with
a person named Frank Ngui Hon Sang. I cannot even guess which parts of this
name are given, and which are family. I would file him as:
Sang, Frank Ngui Hon
Even with Barb's self example, I would say that the name "Ostapina" unless by
itself or hyphenated, sounds nice enough to be a given name. How would I know
that it isn't?
If you have the opportunity to ask for a person's preference, that's great, but
not always possible. If I had to just wing it - I would sort by final surname
only.
Suzette Seveny
Markham, Ontario, Canada
sseveny -at- petvalu -dot- com or suzette -at- yesic -dot- com
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DISCLAIMER:
Any opinions expressed are MY opinions.
Feel free to have your own.
Let's agree to disagree
But Please - Don't Flame Me.
