How to eliminate alternate names

RootsMagic
1

I have many, many alternate names for people. what I would like to do is remove them. I have spent the last month going back through my database to correct other issues yet still cannot find a way to just go to a listing of alternate names and delete them. I am not spending another 2 months going through 483,525 people to find alternate names

2

Two ways to find everyone with an alternate name:

1 In the Index area, click the three dots and turn on show alternate names. every name with a + at the beginning is an alternate name. Open the person and delete the alternate name.

2 Fact Type List, open the fact type list and select the Alternate Name fact. Either print or save the report.

3

you could report them and by type using SQLITE – very simple sqlite to list and group them

you could also remove duplicates

4

You can suppress or exclude the display of Alternate Names from the sidebar Index, People View and a couple of other places if that’s what’s bothering you.

Alternate Name is not a fact type that you can remove from everyone via the Tools>Fact Tools utility.

If you are willing to risk collateral losses from a GEDCOM export and import to a new database, edit the Alternate Name Fact Type in your database to exclude it from GEDCOM export. That will apply to everyone in the database - no Alternate Names will be transferred.

Otherwise, the only mass deletion of them without the risk of collateral losses is by using an outboard sqlite query.

1 Like
5

Question # 1 - why do you want to remove Alternate Names, they could be clues.

Question # 2 - why is your database close to half a million people? Yikes !

Question # 3 - how many duplicate names are there?

6

Thank you BobC that is exactly the answer I was looking for. I can go through now and either delete, change or make alternate names the nickname instead.

7
  1. I know they could be clues, that’s why I want to incorporate the alternate names in with the rest of the fact types
  2. I have been working on this for over 30 years trying to prove a point imbedded deep within my family of a Native connection - which i did. But I also do this for others who are starting their search
  3. I don’t even want to think how many dups I may have lol That’s my next project.
8

did you (@nitefaery) import from Fam search - often times they have many on same person?