Python Human Name Parser¶

Version 1.0.2

A simple Python module for parsing human names into their individual components.

hn.title

hn.first

hn.middle

hn.last

hn.suffix

hn.nickname

Supports 3 different comma placement variations in the input string.

Title Firstname “Nickname” Middle Middle Lastname Suffix Lastname [Suffix], Title Firstname (Nickname) Middle Middle[,] Suffix [, Suffix] Title Firstname M Lastname [Suffix], Suffix [Suffix] [, Suffix]

It attempts the best guess that can be made with a simple, rule-based approach. It’s not perfect, but it gets you pretty far.

Its main use case is English, but it may be useful for other latin-based languages, especially if you are willing to customize it, but it is not likely to be useful for languages that do not share the same structure as English names.

Instantiating the HumanName class with a string splits on commas and then spaces, classifying name parts based on placement in the string and matches against known name pieces like titles. It joins name pieces on conjunctions and special prefixes to last names like “del”. Titles can be chained together and include conjunctions to handle titles like “Asst Secretary of State”. It can also try to correct capitalization.

It does not attempt to correct input mistakes. When there is ambiguity that cannot be resolved by a rule-based approach, HumanName prefers to handle the most common cases correctly. For example, “Dean” is not parsed as title because it is more common as a first name (You can customize this behavior though, see Parser Customization Examples).