Name Prefix

Background

Background: First Name, Given Name, and Nicknames

People go by lots of different names. Their given, legal name may not be the name people use when referring to them, and they might even have a nickname some like to call them. You can show all these name options on a person's profile.

To add a different name option for a person,

edit their personal information⁠

from their profile and click + to see other name options.

⁠

The Prefix, Middle Name, and Suffix are great to use when you have people with similar names. But for people who are called different names, use First Name, Given Name, and Nickname to help you find them in the database.

First Name: What the person usually goes by.

Given Name: The legal first name of the person, if different from their first name.

Nickname: Nicknames are optional names. They are shown on the person's profile page.

Using First, Given, and Nickname

Everyone knows this guy as Tom, and he calls himself Tom. If an email were sent to him addressed to Thomas, it would feel out of place. So we enter Tom as his first name.

⁠

Tom gives to the church, but his check says Thomas Anderson on it. Since everyone knows him as Tom, and Tom is what we want to see in most places in Planning Center, we won't change his first name in the database. Instead, we add Thomas as his Given Name, so his profile will show up in a search for Thomas Anderson in

Giving⁠

⁠