I can't find a way to change the order of the first and the middle name, so if this option doesn't exist it definitely needs to be added. I guess that the creators of this site assumed that all first and middle names always come in exactly that order, but in this case it does not. My father has two personal names plus a surname and the middle name comes before the first name, although it's always displayed the other way round. I could of course change places of these two names, but then the middle name will always be shown where only the first name is supposed to be displayed. If there is a way to change the order in which the names are displayed, please let me know because it will be difficult to add and manage profiles when there are several similar cases.
Date
Votes
10 comments
-
Jeff, Geni Curator When you edit a profile, there is a field for first name and a field for middle name. Also a field for last name, birth surname, and suffix. So I'm not sure what you're talking about. If your language or name is one that reads left to right, you can add the name in the specific language, which should display it in the order for that language.
-
Jeff, Geni Curator Sorry, I meant right to left.
-
Jeff, Geni Curator I should probably mention that the field is specified when there is no text in the box. So if you delete the first name, you should see a light gray "first name", similar to how you see "Suffix". The middle name field is the top right one.
-
Anne Brannen Let me see if I've got this right -- are you talking about the kind of instance wherein on the birth certificate there's a first name, and then a second name, but the person is called by their second name all their lives? (This is very common in my family, as it's a tradition in the American South.)
You might try putting the names into first and second fields as they are in the birth certificate, but putting the display name to read as the person is known.
That way, both orders are given, and all names searchable.
Or, if the name used is a version of the second, you can add it into the second name field -- my father is Joseph Patrick but has never been called anything but Pat. So, he is Joseph Patrick "Pat," and that's how it shows up in the display field.
This is a work around, and not really what you're asking for, but it's how I deal with things.
sometimes in the display field, I leave off the "first" name, which was never used. But it's in the "first" field, in the data section.
-
Staffan Arthur Joakim Nyberg In Finland you have one first name and can have one or two middle names. There isn't a matching word for it in English, so I'll simply have to go with first name. In my mother tongue we say tilltalsnamn, which could be translated to "the given name used when addressing you". It is chosen at birth and is normally the first one, but could also be the second or the third name. You can still have any kinds of nicknames and choose to use any of your second names later in life. Your tilltalsnamn can also legally be changed, but that still doesn't change the order of the names - unless you want to change that too.
My father's name is Arthur Ingmar, and Ingmar is the name that should be used when addressing him. When I click on a profile I want to see the full name in the link as well as in the profile screen, and his chosen name used when addressing him mentioned in the timeline. I have entered his names in the correct fields and also put the full name where it says "show name as". That changes how the name is displayed - except that above the info with gender, birth and so on, the given names are still in the other order - Ingmar Arthur. When creating/editing the profile, it would be easier if there was a box or something similar next to the given names and you could check it to choose one of the names as the first name/the given name used when addressing the person. Then the order of how the full name is displayed will not change, and the person is still mentioned by the correct name in the timeline.
-
Jeff, Geni Curator Thanks for the clarification. It sounds like you're wanting the Display Name field, which doesn't appear to be filled out on your father. If you fill in that as "Arthur Ingmar", then you'll see that throughout the site and on the timeline, but when you click on the profile, you'll see his entire name.
-
Staffan Arthur Joakim Nyberg The wrong full name just above the basic info on his profile still does not change, so I don't know how to correct that.
-
Jeff, Geni Curator The display name will reflect everywhere except on the basic area of the profile itself, where it will show the name in it's proper fields. If that doesn't work for you, then it just sounds like weird symatics where your first name is not really a first name, it's a middle name, and the middle name is not really his middle name, but his first name. Then just put his middle name in the first name field and first in the middle, then put the alternate in the Also Known As or describe the variation in the About section, such as He was born "... ... ..." but goes by "... ... ...".
-
Staffan Arthur Joakim Nyberg I'm sorry, but I'm going to try another site as there doesn't seem to be a way to display the names correctly here. I have tried all suggestions and also tried my own ideas, but to no avail. I never expected that simply displaying a person's full name and the name addressed to him would be a problem, but apparently that seems to be the case here.
-
Jeff, Geni Curator One additional thing... Make sure the checkbox "Show middle names" is checked in your preferences. You'd get different results if that was unchecked.
Please sign in to leave a comment.