Private User,
The [http://wiki.geni.com/index.php/Naming_Conventions Naming Conventions] page says "All names a person is known by in any source should be listed in Nicknames: bynames (especially in English), additional titles, variations." We should list George Gaynes and George Jongejans there.
That page also points to the [http://wiki.geni.com/index.php/Naming_Conventions Coalition for the Standardization of Geni Naming Conventions] project which says "A person's Birth Surname should to be entered in the "Birth Name" field AND THEN also in the "Last Name/ Surname" field if their surname did not change during their lifetime." Following that rule "Gaynes" should go in the "Last Name" field. One thing I read even said that he changed it the same year he got married. If he changed it at marriage that is similar to probably about half of the people in the US that change their last name at marriage and we put their married name in the "Last Name" field.
I looked up other celebrities to see how their name changes are entered in and many have the "Display Name" populated with the name they are commonly known by: Katy Perry, Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, Jamie Foxx, Charlie Sheen,Unknown Profile,Marilyn Monroe,Sir Elton John. That certainly doesn't mean they are done as best as they can, but that seems to be the common use of it.
I know naming is a bit controversial sometimes...is there another discussion or page I missed somewhere to point out better use of these fields? Thanks
John
