Extract first and last names from nvarchar data

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How can I parse the first, middle and last name from a full name field in SQL?

Say I have some nvarchar data 'Joe Blogs'...

I need to be able to query the data to extract the first and last names.

firstname
----------
Joe

lastname
----------
Blogs

What is the simplest way of doing this?

Are you talking about a simple word splitting mechanism, or a function to semantically determine which part is the first name and which the last? What happens with the input string `Ponce de Leon`? Also, the title has nothing to do with the question's content... — Esoteric Screen Name, Dec 03 '12 at 16:04
Also have you [searched the archives](http://stackoverflow.com/search?q=[sql]+extract+first+last+name)? As this is a very common question. Possibly one of the previous responses may answer your question - or if not - help you refine this one. — Leigh, Dec 03 '12 at 17:10

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

1

You need to create a T-SQL function that splits a string, based on a delimiter, and returns the tokens (pieces). There are a number available, such as this one:

T-SQL split string

edited May 23 '17 at 12:18

Community

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answered Dec 03 '12 at 16:01

Randy Minder

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That's a link to this question :) – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir Dec 03 '12 at 16:03
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@LittleBobbyTables - Perhaps Randy thought this was a question about recursion... – Oded Dec 03 '12 at 16:04
Whoops - I'm sorry. That's not exactly what I had in mind. I fixed the link. See the function by Andy Robinson. – Randy Minder Dec 03 '12 at 16:08
Hmm I think that would just handle the simplest case. [This one](http://stackoverflow.com/a/159760/119477) does a much more comprehensive job. – Conrad Frix Dec 03 '12 at 18:22

Extract first and last names from nvarchar data

1 Answers1