Alphabetize by Last Name. Last name is first. Richards, A.E. The form above is a simple tool for putting a list of terms in alphabetical order. Data entry: enter full name if known. It's bad enough by last name already. A. Always alphabetize names by the first letter of the last name. So J.Smith would be tedious (if not impossible) to find if it were sorted by first name. FYI: You can ignore articles when alphabetizing a list using the alphabetizer. Beecher is not her middle name. It is her maiden name. Q. Alphabetical Order. Telephone books sort by last name first, because there is more variation in last names, and because in business (more in the past) people would only use their initial and last name. For example, Daniel Day-Lewis would be listed under the Ds as DAY-LEWIS, Daniel. Example: When alphabetizing A Face and The Arm, The Arm will become before A Face. You can use it to sort lists of words, titles, names, numbers or any other type of content. 2. The works cited list is put into alphabetical order by the authors' names, determined by the letters that come before the commas separating the authors' last and first names. If you have a list of names you need to have arranged in alphabetical order, you probably don't want that done by the first name. In the absence of a hyphen, alphabetize by the final name. This thread is locked. Alphabetizing can seem confusing at first, but once you get the system down, it’s easy! Initials (A.E. before Richards, Ashley E. 3. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. You must ignore these while alphabetizing. In general, words that start with “A’ should come first, words that start with "B" should come second, and so on through the alphabet. When you alphabetize your works-cited list, treat numbers in titles as though they were spelled out. A before B, and so on. Schultz, Nikki B. If the first letters of the last name are the same, order according to the second letter. Rule #5: Spell out symbols. Other punctuation marks and spaces are ignored. Alphabetizing. An initial or name using just one letter comes before a complete name starting with the same letter. This option will arrange so the new list is alphabetized by the last name without you having to put the last name first. The names of individuals are indexed alphabetically by using their last names first, their first names or initials, and finally their middle initials or names. Names (Nikki B. Schultz) Alphabetize according to the last name first, then the first name, then any initial. The letters following the commas are considered only when two or more last names are identical. 1. It will auto-detect your separator, comma-separated (csv), spaces, new lines, or tabs. Start by comparing the first letter of each word, name, or title that you're trying to alphabetize. 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