New article: Personal names around the world

How do people’s names differ around the world, and what are the implications of those differences on the design of forms, databases, ontologies, etc. for the Web?

People who create web forms, databases, or ontologies are often unaware how different people’s names can be in other countries. They build their forms or databases in a way that assumes too much on the part of foreign users. This article introduces you first to some of the different styles used for personal names, and then some of the possible implications for handling those on the Web.

Read the article.

By Richard Ishida, W3C.