Entering or Editing Names of People
Initial Caps Button
Last Name UPPERCASE Button
Converting Case for Everybody
Sex
Nicknames
Name Changes
Soundex Numbers
Ditto Shortcuts
Autocomplete Last Names
Autocomplete First & Middle Names
Copying Names to the Clipboard
To enter or edit the name of a person...
This will open the Name section of the Edit Person panel, shown below.
The Name section contains fields for first and middle names, last name, prefix title, suffix title, and user ID number.
You can press the Tab key to move from field to field to enter information. You can press Shift + Tab to move backward through the fields. Or, you can simply point and click the mouse to put the cursor into any field.
Reunion saves your changes as you go. When you are finished entering or editing names, you can return to the family view by clicking
pressing the Return or Enter key, or clicking in the navbar.If the
button is checked, the first letter of each word in a field will be capitalized when you "exit" the field by pressing the Tab key, clicking , or otherwise closing the Edit Person window.Pressing the Option key while you "exit" a field will not apply the button. For example, you can press Option + Tab after making an entry for which you do not want the case changed.
The Events, and Facts section of the Edit Person panel and the Marriage, Children, and Events sections of the Edit Family panel. The setting of this button is independent in each place it appears.
button appears in the Name,If the
button is checked, the person's last name will be converted to uppercase when you "exit" the field by pressing the Tab key, clicking , or otherwise closing the Edit Person panel. The conversion only happens if you make a change in the Last Name field.Pressing the Option key while you "exit" a field will not apply the button. For example, you can press Option + Tab after making an entry which you do not want capitalized.
Prefix words, as defined in the General Settings, will not be changed by the or buttons.
To capitalize or change the case of the first and middle names, last names (surnames), and/or titles of everybody to uppercase, mixed case, or lower case...
This opens the Case panel...
“Last name prefixes" are words such as Van in Van Dyke. Whether or not words are considered "prefix words" is determined by a setting in the General Settings. If the button in the General Settings is selected, the button in the Case panel will be disabled.
To change the sex or gender of a person, use the Children section of the Edit Family panel.
button in the Edit Person panel. The sex of a child is also shown in theThere are several options for recording a nickname or the name a person goes by.
Name Changes and Multiple Last Names
Here are three suggested approaches for handling cases where research reveals that a person has used multiple surnames over a lifetime. (This summary is based on an excellent post by Reunion user Teri Pettit, on ReunionTalk.)
Soundex numbers are automatically calculated by Reunion and displayed in the Edit Person panel. Soundex is a methodology used in filing and searching for names to compensate for different spellings of the same names. The Soundex system has been used to file names on indexes for various resources, such as US census records and immigration lists.
Name | Soundex |
---|---|
Smith | S530 |
Smythe | S530 |
How to search for Soundex numbers.
How to append Soundex numbers to names in charts and reports.
How to display Soundex numbers in buttons.
How to sort the List window by Soundex number.
The "ditto" shortcut, pressing Command + apostrophe, lets you automatically duplicate the last entry you made in a place field or the last name field. For example...
As you enter or edit last names, you'll notice a drop-down list of name suggestions. This list provides a shortcut for entering last names (surnames). For example, if you have some very long last names in your family, you only have to type them once. Each time thereafter when you begin to type the name, Reunion will fill in the rest of the name for you and show a drop-down list of names based on the letters you've typed.
For example, let's say you're about to enter somebody with the surname Todd and you've already entered another person with the same surname. When you begin to type in his surname, you'll press t and Reunion will show a drop-down list of names beginning with t; so, you might see Thomas, Thompson, etc. Then, if you type another letter, the letter o, Reunion will automatically list surnames that begin with the letters to — thus Thomas and Thompson will disappear from the list.
You can use the arrow keys on the keyboard, or your mouse, to select the correct surname from the drop-down list.
Reunion remembers surnames as you enter or edit them in the Edit Person panel, Edit Family panel, and List windows. 10,000 last names are remembered on a modified first-in, first-out basis. If a name in the list is reused, that name will be moved back to the top of the FIFO list, so that names exiting the list are those least recently used.
Autocomplete is always enabled for last names. It is not enabled for other fields, except First/Middle Names (explained below) and places (which are explained here).
Reunion has a parallel "autocomplete" feature for the First & Middle Name field (aka “given names").
This feature should reduce your work, by making it faster to enter common names. I.e., if you enter somebody named "William" you’ll never need to type "William" again.
How Does This Work?
This feature autocompletes on a word-by-word basis, making it slightly different than the autocomplete feature for last names.
For example, let's say there are two people named "Gregg Daniel Jones"; and "Harry Frank Smith." In this case, the individual words "Gregg," "Daniel," "Frank," and "Harry," are saved in the autocomplete list, rather than complete name "Daniel Gregg" and "Harry Frank."
Here's a typical example when entering the name for a female and typing "j"...
"Jane," "Jenny," and "Joan," will be listed; but not "Jim" or "John."
However, if you enter a name that is used for both a male and a female — for example if you have a male and a female in your file named "Terry" or "Hillary" — then those names will be presented for both sexes. If a name is being entered for a person of unknown sex, then autocomplete will present both male and female names.
4,000 unique first/middle names are remembered on a modified first-in, first-out basis. If a name in the list is reused, that name will be moved back to the top of the FIFO list, so that names exiting the list are those least recently used.
When Are Autocomplete Lists Updated?
Autocomplete lists for first, middle, and last names are updated whenever names are added/edited in...
Removing Mistakes and Bad Entries From Autocomplete
Let's say you've entered a surname incorrectly — for example, you typed the surname "Thompson" incorrectly as "Thomppsonn" — but then you corrected the entry another day and typed it "Thompson."
In this case, the list of last names now contains both spellings and will dutifully suggest both in the autocomplete drop-down list as you're entering new people and you begin to type the surname Thompson.
To "cleanse" the names...
Thus, if you've entered a misspelled name but subsequently removed it, the misspelled name will disappear from autocomplete after rebuilding the autocomplete lists.
If desired, you may flip (or swap) the first and last names in buttons. To do this...
Names will then be displayed: LastName, FirstName in buttons in the family view. This setting also applies to the display of names in web family cards and cascading pedigree charts.
In the Edit Person window, Control-clicking on the name near the top will show a menu with options to copy text details into to the Clipboard.
Here are examples of the text that would go into the Clipboard...
Full Name
Alma Elaine RICE
Full Name and dates
Alma Elaine RICE (1900-1975)
Full Name, birth and death info
Alma Elaine RICE
b: 1900
d: 1975