Problem 1: Transcription
The written word more or less reflects the spoken one. Rules define how sounds are put into letters. But why then is Muhammad from Arabic or Gorbatchev from Russian written in many different ways? Because there are no standard rules.Problem 2: Naturally evolved variants
Two hundred years ago many people could not read and write. They knew their names but not the rules for spelling - if there were any. Because of this, and with the influence of local pronunciation differences, many variants of family names evolved. For example: Shakespeare, Shakespere, Shakespear, Shakspeare, Shackspeare, Shakspere etc.Problem 3: Data transfer
Errors occur when transmission techniques fail to work properly:- oral data transfer, for example by telephone
- typewriting, especially from handwritten originals
- scanning errors - mistakes in optical character recognition (OCR)
- language differences and wrong assumptions
Solution: Name Variant Generator
The variant generator helps by listing known variants from the database source, and extending the list based on rules. The rules are especially helpful for names transcribed from foreign alphabets.Variant Examples
- Margaret: Margarethe, Margareth, Margrethe, Margareta, Märta, Peggy, Peggi, Meg, ...
- Schmidt: Schmitt, Schmied, Schmid, Smith, Smythe, Laforge, ...
- Mohammed: Muhammad, Mihammad, Mohamed, Mohamet, Mohammad, Mahmed, Mahmood, Mahmoud, Mahmud, ...
- Andrey: Andrei, Andrej, Andy, Andi, Andrew, Andreas, ...
Example of use
Does your database query only deliver exact matches? With the variant generator you'll find the name you're looking for even if it is stored or indexed with a different spelling. To ensure optimal results, a search incorporates an n-gram index to find spelling mistakes as well.» Contact
