The Big Ol' Problem with Apostrophes

A new AP story relates the collective adversity linked to computers' ill-treatment of names with apostrophes and other "confusing" punctuation marks.





Beyond the Irish O'Connors, French D'Artagnans, and commonly apostrophe-laden Italian and African names, computers have trouble with the dastardly hyphens of Arab monikers and the vans and vons and spaces of the Dutch.





The confusion—caused by erasing, dismissing, dividing or otherwise distorting the names—can extend to nuisances in voter registration, medical and dental records, gym memberships, online searches, school registration and beyond.





One specialist explains, "Most programs set a rule for first name and last name. They don't think of foreign-sounding names." Take that, alternative spelling.