Chinese and Thai names in Reunion

[BarryAbrahamsen]

Hi,

I have both Chinese, Norwegian, Thai and Polish names in our family tree, so I know that Reunion handles them just fine, though I expect when I export the file to GEDCOM I will have challenges.

But what I'm interested in now is to know how people record the original name and the English transliterations in Reunion. For me to be able to use the records, I've put the English transliterations in the name fields of the person record. I don't see any place in particular where I could record the Thai, Chinese and Polish versions of their names so I've put them in a note.

Is that the best compromise, or is there an alternative set of name data I could use so each person would show up with both names under People?

= Barry

Up-to-date with Reunion and macOS!

[Gato]

Re: Chinese and Thai names in Reunion

Hi,

I have both Chinese, Norwegian, Thai and Polish names in our family tree, so I know that Reunion handles them just fine, though I expect when I export the file to GEDCOM I will have challenges.

But what I'm interested in now is to know how people record the original name and the English transliterations in Reunion. For me to be able to use the records, I've put the English transliterations in the name fields of the person record. I don't see any place in particular where I could record the Thai, Chinese and Polish versions of their names so I've put them in a note.

Is that the best compromise, or is there an alternative set of name data I could use so each person would show up with both names under People?

= Barry

Up-to-date with Reunion and macOS!

It is very common for Chinese to have both Chinese and adopted European names, so my practice is to include all in the Reunion name fields where they are or have been in simultaneous use by the individual. This can be three or more names in each name field! As the main language of my Reunion file is English, the name order I use is, 1. Name most used in English-speaking environment; 2. Romanized name (usually Pinyin, sometimes Wade-Giles or dialect transliteration) 3. Chinese characters (full or short form depending on the individual's practise). I think it is very useful to have the Chinese characters as well as romanization because, as you would know, many Chinese names with only one alphabetic form have several totally different Chinese characters. Therefore Chinese characters are the only way of recording Chinese names precisely. Where necessary—for example, if anything is known about how or when a name came to be chosen—I insert further information in Misc. Notes or Research.
I have insufficient experience of Thai to offer an informed opinion, but I would be inclined to enter Thai script for Thai names on similar principles, where I knew that an individual used or uses a Thai name.