How does one add an alternate name in Gramps 5.1.5?
Click the + (Add) button inside the Edit Person dialog’s Names tab.
Adding (or double-clicking a name) opens the Name Editor
And this is one of the examples that goes wrong in our GEDCOM. And that’s because there is no way to export an empty prefix, which results in a program like RootsMagic importing this as von Garnier, Zielinski.
In a way, this means that the GEDCOM or PAF way, with the surname between slashes, is still te best way to transfer names, and that our structured ways are not that helpful outside Gramps.
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I also note that, when you look at this, we put a lot of effort in splitting surnames, and close to none whatsoever in given names, which all sit in a single field, except for that callname, which only works for one culture.
This means that, model wise, I think that a change to general name parts, where any part can have a type, and not just surname parts, is another way to make progress, without really adding much complexity, because the parts model is already there. The main change would then be that we stop discriminating between given name and surname parts at the top level, and move all typing to the part level.
This would mean that the first_name field disappears, the surname_list becomes name_list, so that we actually loose a field in the name object, which can then be replaced with a culture/language field.
I strongly disagree. The rules for surnames inheritance & organization are increasingly well defined. Demoting surnames would be going backwards and invalidate the current rules.
It still doesn’t invert surname & given order as needed for some Asian cultures. But since Gramps has a “Display As” individual override, it is controllable now. It just isn’t automated for lineage lines. So that makes it… less than useful.
I get your point, but see a movement in the other direction, because users ask for it. See also:
And, yes, I know that GedcomX is not very much alive, or quite invisible.