Split full names into first, middle, last & more
Paste a CSV, pick the name column, and split every full name into title, first, middle, last, and suffix — understanding honorifics, Jr/III/PhD suffixes, van/de/mac particles, and the Last, First form. Nothing is uploaded.
About this tool
Person Name Splitter turns a CSV column of free-form full names into structured components: title, first, middle, last, and suffix. It is meant for contact lists, CRM exports, survey data, and other tables where one full-name field needs to become separate columns.
The parser is deterministic and local. It recognizes common honorifics (Dr., Mr., Prof.), suffixes (Jr., III, PhD, MD), surname particles (van, von, de, del, di, la, mac, mc), hyphenated and apostrophe names, and comma-form names like Smith, Jane Q.
Worked example
Input CSV:
name,email
Dr. John Michael Smith Jr.,[email protected]
Ludwig van Beethoven,[email protected]
"Smith, Jane Q",[email protected]
With append output, the original columns are kept and five component columns are added:
name,email,name_title,name_first,name_middle,name_last,name_suffix
Dr. John Michael Smith Jr.,[email protected],Dr.,John,Michael,Smith,Jr.
Ludwig van Beethoven,[email protected],,Ludwig,,van Beethoven,
"Smith, Jane Q",[email protected],,Jane,Q,Smith,
Use replace to swap the name column for the five components, or summary to count how many rows had titles, middle names, suffixes, and ambiguous single-token names.
Limits & edge cases
- Names are parsed with transparent heuristics, not a demographic database or AI model. Ambiguous names can still be wrong.
- Single-token names such as
Cherare treated as first names and marked ambiguous in the summary output. - Comma-form names must be CSV-quoted when the delimiter is comma, for example
"Smith, Jane Q". - Particles are attached to the surname when they appear after the first given-name token, e.g.
Ludwig van Beethoven→ lastvan Beethoven. - The tool handles one name column per run. Run it again for another name column.
- For non-comma files, choose tab, semicolon, or pipe so output uses the same delimiter.
FAQ
Does this know every culture's naming rules?
No. It uses a practical set of deterministic rules for common Western-style contact lists: titles, suffixes, particles, hyphenated names, apostrophes, and Last, First ordering. It does not query a names database and does not infer gender or ethnicity.
What happens to names with only one word?
A single token is placed in the first column and left without a last name. In summary output, that row is counted as ambiguous so you can review it manually.
How should I enter names like `Smith, Jane` in a CSV?
If your delimiter is comma, quote the cell: "Smith, Jane". Otherwise the comma would be treated as a column separator by normal CSV rules. Tab, semicolon, and pipe files can include commas without quoting if comma is not the delimiter.
Can it preserve my original full-name column?
Yes. Choose append to keep all original columns and add five component columns at the end. Choose replace only when you want the full-name column swapped out for the components.
Developer & Automation Access
Run it from the terminal
Same engine as this page, headless — via the gizza CLI:
gizza tool person-name-splitter 'name,email
Dr. John Michael Smith Jr.,[email protected]
Ludwig van Beethoven,[email protected]
"Smith, Jane Q",[email protected]'New to the CLI? Get gizza →
Open it by URL
Pre-fill and auto-run this tool with query parameters — the names match the API/CLI:
https://gizza.ai/tools/person-name-splitter/?data=name%2Cemail%0ADr.%20John%20Michael%20Smith%20Jr.%2Cjohn%40example.com%0ALudwig%20van%20Beethoven%2Clvb%40example.com%0A%22Smith%2C%20Jane%20Q%22%2Cjane%40example.com&name_column=name&output=append&delimiter=comma&header=true&trim=trueMachine-readable descriptor: tool.json — title + parameters JSON Schema for agents.