Index
Part 1: Name Display within healthcare
NHS CUI
Part 2: Name display outside of healthcare
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO): Machine Readable Travel Documents
Part 1: Name Display within healthcare
NHS CUI: Patient Name Input and Display
NHS CUI Patient Name Input and Display (Version 3.0.0.0 2015). Copy of original document here.
Example
OLIVER, James (Mr)
FAMILY NAME, Given Name (Title)
Specifications
Family Name:
must be all uppercase
multiple family names joined with a hyphen or a space
Given Name
displayed in title case
multiple given names may be separated with a hyphen or single space
Separator
Family name and given name separated with a comma
Otherwise a single space between every other name element
Order: Must display in the order: Family Name, Given Name (Title)
Title:
must be in title case, not all caps.
Allow up to 35 characters for the Title
Title included at the end in parentheses
Commentary
These specifications state that the Family Name should be in uppercase in order to clearly distinguish it from the Given Name. This is further emphasized by separating the Family Name and the Given Name with a comma.
The CUI document clearly notes that the use of uppercase, in general, has the potential to slow down the time to read the name, and can present difficulties for those with reading difficulties such as dyslexia.
However, despite this, the document favours the use of uppercase because they do not anticipate that short names in uppercase will have a significant effect on reading time or dyslexia.
Name Length
In the UK the Personal NHS Connecting for Health Personal Demographics Service (PDS), specifies the following name element lengths
Title - 35 characters
Given name - 40 characters
Family Name - 40 characters
The NHS also permits
Preferred Name (Requetesd Name) - such as the use of the middle name
Nick Name (Alias or Known As) - a name other than that found in their formal name set
Pubmed: 0 results found for
family name uppercase
family names uppercase
surname uppercase
surnames uppercase
Part 2: Name display outside of healthcare
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO): Machine Readable Travel Documents
Primary Identifier
Family Name
Recommended that upper-case characters are used - except the prefix (e.g. “von” Mc” or “de la” where lower case or mixed cased is acceptable)
Secondary Identifier
Forenames, familiar names, given names, initials, secondary names)
Recommended that upper-case characters are used
Separator
A comma is placed between the primary identifier and secondary identifier when represented within the same field.
Other
“Prefixes and suffixes including titles, professional and academic qualifications, honours, awards, and hereditary status, should not be included in the VIZ. However, if an issuing State or organization considers such a prefix or suffix to be legally part of the name, the prefix or suffix can appear in the VIZ.”
“Numeric characters should not be written in the name fields of the VIZ; however, where the use of numeric characters is a legal naming convention in the issuing State, these should be represented in Roman numerals. Any prefixes, suffixes or Roman numerals shall be entered in the secondary identifier field.”
Reference
ICAO, Doc 9303 (2015)
Part 3: Specifications Common to all MRTDs
https://www.icao.int/publications/Documents/9303_p3_cons_en.pdf
Other Links
Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names, by Patrick McKenzie (2010)
https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/
Thanks Patrick Childers for the suggestion
From the series Building the EHR
Section: Conventions / Patient Name Display
