misplaced_optimism

misplaced_optimism t1_j2bns6h wrote

Great question. Other people have provided examples of the types of names that exist, but I'd like to answer your second question. The truth is that it varies, and generally is a mess for the programmers and software developers who need to maintain the systems that keep track of names.

There is no standard for documentation that applies across a single country, much less multiple countries. For example: this is the US machine-readable passport naming standard. Other countries have different standards. Other types of official documentation in the US have different standards as well.

Falsehoods Programmers Believe about Names provides a good summary of the problem

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