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type: datatypedatatype: HumanName

HumanName

Overview

See also Examples, Detailed Descriptions, Mappings, Profiles and Extensions

A name of a human with text, parts and usage information.

Names may be changed or repudiated. People may have different names in different contexts. Names may be divided into parts of different type that have variable significance depending on context, though the division into parts is not always significant. With personal names, the different parts might or might not be imbued with some implicit meaning; various cultures associate different importance with the name parts and the degree to which systems SHALL care about name parts around the world varies widely.

[%dt HumanName 10%]

This table summarizes where common parts of a person's name are found.

NameExampleDestination / Comments
SurnameSmithFamily Name
First nameJohnGiven Name
TitleMr.Prefix
Middle NameSamuelSubsequent Given Names
Patronymicbin OsmanFamily Name
Multiple family namesCarreño QuiñonesFamily Name. See note below about decomposition of family name
InitialsQ.Given Name as initial ("." recommended)
Nick NameJockGiven name, with Use = nickname
QualificationsPhDSuffix
HonorificsSeniorSuffix
Voorvoegsel / Nobilityvan BeethovenFamily Name. See note below about decomposition of family name

For further information, including all W3C International Examples, consult the examples. Note: Implementers should read the name examples for a full understanding of how name works.

The multiple given parts and family name combine to form a single name. Where a person has alternate names that may be used in place of each other (e.g., Nicknames, Aliases), these are different instances of HumanName.

The text element specifies the entire name as it should be displayed e.g., in an application UI. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts. Applications updating a name SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part. The correct order of assembly of the parts is culture dependent: the order of the parts within a given part type has significance and SHALL be observed. The appropriate order between family name and given names depends on culture and context of use. Note that there is an extension for the few times name assembly order is not fixed by the culture.

The given name parts may contain whitespace, though generally they don't. Initials may be used in place of the full name if that is all that is recorded. Systems that operate across cultures should generally rely on the text form for presentation and use the parts for index/search functionality. For this reason, applications SHOULD populate the text element for future robustness.

In some cultures (e.g., German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese), family names are complex and composed of various parts that may need to be managed separately, e.g., they have differing significance for searching. In these cases, the full family name is populated in family, and a decomposition of the name can be provided using the family extensions own-name, own-prefix, partner-name, partner-prefix, fathers-family and mothers-family.

For robust search, servers should search the parts of a family name independently. e.g., Searching either Carreno or Quinones should match a family name of "Carreno Quinones". HL7 affiliates, and others producing implementation guides, may make more specific recommendations about how search should work in specific cultures or environments.

Constraints

[%dt.constraints HumanName%] [%tx HumanName%]

HumanName is used in the following places: [%dtusage HumanName%]

Elements

Aliases

Bindings

Modifiers

Requirements

Comments

Order and Missing Meaning

Mappings