Add TYPE to event NAME

[Jan Suhr]

There is in my opinion a short coming with TNG and it's display of names. In this case I mean other names, like maiden, married, birthname, other names, family names, artist names and a few more.

In a Gedcom this is defined as this:

1 NAME
2 TYPE
2 GIVN
2 SURN

I would like to see this solved in some way so that this can be displayed properly on the individuals page.
Since they are events all these names get it's own field but we can't set an exclusive title to these fields.  

So we need a way to define the TYPE to the NAME event.

I guess a MOD could do that but I don't really know where to start looking for how this is handled in TNG. It seems to be several files involved.

Any clues on how to go ahead?

I think it should be solved within TNG without any MOD's

 

[Bill Herndon]

There are many ways to approach the problem of contextual names.  Myself, I use the standard GEDCOM tags NAME, (name), ALIA (alias), and NICK (nickname) along with a custom event tag that I've defined to handle married names (_NAMM).  With these, I cover all the names that I typically use in my site and database.

But addressing the statement:  

2 hours ago, Jan Suhr said:

I would like to see this solved in some way so that this can be displayed properly on the individuals page.
Since they are events all these names get it's own field but we can't set an exclusive title to these fields.  

I don't think this is the case.  All TNG custom event titles can be internationalized using the interface Event -> Attribute Types -> Edit Existing Type.  As for ordering, TNG also handles that, but I suspect you might need a mod to place all the specific custom 'name' events with the primary name.  (In other words, TNG supports reordering, but I think it excludes some of the built in attribute types). 

Bill Herndon

Lindell-Herndon Genealogy

[Jan Suhr]

In my case I use MacFamilyTree and there you can specify other names like this:

Name at birth

Name as married

Nickname

Artist name

Other name

Double name

Family name

Name variant

Adopted name

Formal name

Religious name

I don't know how other programs handle this but I guess these are common for most.

Problem here is that since they have the initial tag 1 NAME in the Gedcom they are treated as the event class NAME ands ends up there.
Since other Event classes EVEN can be defined with a TYPE it would be great if this also could be applied to the NAME class.

[Bill Herndon]

4 minutes ago, Jan Suhr said:

I don't know how other programs handle this but I guess these are common for most.

Reunion (my backend software) allows me to create my own custom GEDCOM tags.  I have probably 8 or 9 of these that get imported as TNG custom events (...most apply to sources, though.  Only the one, _NAMM, is for names).

The problem Darrin would have to solve--and I think it's a hard one--is dealing with all the different ways desktop genealogy software systems leverage GEDCOM to solve a problem like this.  I haven't kept up with the standard, honestly.  In 5.5.1:  is TYPE a legitimate second-level tag for NAME?

k/r

Bill Herndon

[Jan Suhr]

I have several custom tags and they work fine and imports as the should in to the Event class, but none are NAME and there fore get all info around it.
Yes I guess it can be complicated, I did look at it a bit for eventually make an app for it

This is what Googles AI reply about NAME and TYPE

 

In a GEDCOM file, the NAME TYPE variant refers to a sub-type of a NAME record that specifies the kind of name being recorded, such as "maiden" for a maiden name or "previous marriage" for a name from a prior marriage. While the GEDCOM 5.5.1 standard doesn't define standard types, applications can use arbitrary strings for TYPE or define their own, though this can lead to compatibility issues. 

 

How it works: 

 

1. NAME Record: A NAME record within an INDI (individual) record defines a person's name.
2. TYPE Sub-record: A TYPE record can follow a NAME record to provide additional context about that specific name.
3. Example:
   • An individual might have a primary name: 1 NAME John /Smith/.
   • They could then have a maiden name recorded as: 1 NAME Jane /Doe/ 2 TYPE maiden.
   • Another name from a previous marriage could be: 1 NAME Jane /Doe/ 2 TYPE previous marriage.

Key points: 

 

• Application-Specific:

  The specific TYPE values (like "maiden") are not standardized by the GEDCOM specification itself but are conventions adopted by different genealogy software.
• Compatibility:

  Because they are not standardized, different GEDCOM readers might not understand or support the custom TYPE values used by a particular application, potentially leading to incorrect display of alternate names.
• Recording Multiple Names:

  The standard and recommended way to record alternate names in GEDCOM 5.5.1 is to use multiple NAME records.

In summary: The NAME TYPE variant is a mechanism for a software to categorize different names for an individual, but its effectiveness depends on consistent usage and interpretation across different genealogy programs. 

[Jan Suhr]

I have now created a MOD that handles Name Types. Both from Gedcom imports but also so you can define them your self in TNG. 

See here:
https://tng.lythgoes.net/wiki/index.php/Add_Name_Types