Surnames as Forenames and Middle Names

+4 votes
160 views

Families that have unusual surnames seem to arouse suspicion from Data Doctor, especially if they are used as Forenames or Middle names.

Examples from my watchlist are Acclome Milbanke, Sedman Horsley and Jane Massender Richardson.  In each case the first bearer of the unusual forename took it from his or her mother's maiden name. The first two are then repeated over several generations.  Some comments under STATUS seem to be accepted, and others ignored for no obvious reason.  My worry is that others may be encouraged by this reported problem to correct the non-existent error.

in Policy and Style by David Horsley G2G6 Mach 1 (10.3k points)

2 Answers

+10 votes
 
Best answer
If the name is correct, mark it as a false error. Otherwise, it will keep coming back as a suggestion every month. The comments you make are irrelevant to the status of the suggestion.
by Deb Durham G2G Astronaut (1.1m points)
selected by David Horsley
+6 votes

Hi David, do as Deb has recommended to stop getting error suggestions and then you can also put a note in the biography to explain to other users so that they don't make changes without consulting you first.yes

by Shaun Doust G2G6 Pilot (355k points)

Thanks very much.  This solves my immediate problem with a couple of dozen profiles.

It seems to me that there is a more basic problem with the Suggestions System (and let me be clear that I think the concept and the hard work put in by many individuals are wonderful).

When you work out that you press the Status button to report you work and change the status of the Suggestion you are given five options, but two of these have no effect whatsoever, and should be removed. You are then left with three choices which actually affect the Suggestions List.

  1. False Suggestion: Hide forever.
  2. Corrected : Hide till next check.
  3. Proposed Merge. Hide for a month.

The third choice only makes sense in a few cases.  The other two may only make sense after a few minutes work, or in extreme cases a few hours work. My personal preference would be to go for option 2 until I was quite certain that there was nothing left that I could improve.

It also makes obvious sense to explain any strangeness in the name, gender or whatever in the text of the biography.

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