Using the first stage name, or birth name as the "main" name sounds good, but how is a person to know that Jada Pinkett, credited as JPS is the correct name to add to a cast list for a movie, when her on screen credit is Jada Pinkett Smith?
Do we just let JPS be added, then someone who knows fix it? Maybe Ken is working on a way to find the main name automatically when adding credits, that would be a nice feature.

Quoting antolod:

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Using the first stage name, or birth name as the "main" name sounds good, but how is a person to know that Jada Pinkett, credited as JPS is the correct name to add to a cast list for a movie, when her on screen credit is Jada Pinkett Smith?
Do we just let JPS be added, then someone who knows fix it? Maybe Ken is working on a way to find the main name automatically when adding credits, that would be a nice feature.

I think even now errors like that are getting through. After all, no one out there knows the personal details of every single actress. I'm sure innocent mistakes like that will be easy enough to fix once they're in the db.

What makes things more complicated is that the US and UK handle names differently. It seems that the posters were right who said that Pinkett became a middle name, that does seem to be a US convention. However over here in the UK, the name becomes double barrelled. So we'll have to be careful to take nationality into account.

Quoting northbloke:

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What makes things more complicated is that the US and UK handle names differently. It seems that the posters were right who said that Pinkett became a middle name, that does seem to be a US convention. However over here in the UK, the name becomes double barrelled. So we'll have to be careful to take nationality into account.

Regardless of what Rifter would have you believe, it is not a US convention for a woman to automatically change her middle name to her maiden name.  It was common where he grew up but not common where I grew up.  It is a convention that is highly dependent on where and how you were raised.

Add to that the fact that this is a Hollywood marriage and it becomes less likely.  She did work under the name 'Jada Pinkett'.  A lot of actresses use the double-barreled last name so there is still a link to their earlier work.

But I agree, the best solution would be the one Gerri suggested for 'Courtney Cox'.  Use 'Jada Pinkett' for the common name.

Quoting Rifter:

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So what?  That is a relatively recent convention.  It wasn't done that way as a rule when I was a kid in the 50's, or in my parents youth during the Depression, or in my grandparents youth during the Roaring 20's.  98% of the wedding announcements in our local paper follow that same convention.  It is extremely unusual for a woman to adopt a hyphenated/compound last name unless it for business reasons, and even then most just retain their maiden name for that purpose.

So you're suggesting that we should ignore all of the folks who didn't get married when you were "a kid in the 50's, or in my parents youth during the Depression, or in my grandparents youth during the Roaring 20's."

I agree that it is unusual for a woman to adopt a hypenated last name, at least in the U.S.  Most just drop their maiden name altogether.

We can't just ignore those who take on double-barrelled names.

And once again, in your limited vision, you are only interested in your own personal experience.  Names are formed in a variety of ways all over the world.  All need to be addressed.

Quoting Kevin:

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Quoting Rifter:

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She followed normal American conventions for changing one's name upon marriage, by replacing her birth middle name with her birth last name and adopting her husband's last name as hers.

Where is your data backing up this claim? I don't see any.

As I've stated before, on this forum and at IVS, of the many women I know personally who have done what Jada has, they STILL have a middle name. No matter what you say.

Heck, my MOM uses her maiden name before her married name, and SHE didn't "give up" her middle name. And SHE was married over 50 years ago.

Whewreas you don't have any hard data to back up your claim.  Again.

Oh, really?  And what proof have YOU provided?  Nothing but anecdotal, that because YOU don't know anybody who did it, then it can't possibly be that way.  Well, I worked in a court house for several years.  I saw the records on a daily basis when people came in to record marriages.  I have a family bible that lists ten generations and it is clearly evident that what I said was normal practice.

Then there is the post somebody made giving Jada's birth names, and it is clearly evident that she followed the same tradition I spoke of.

You believe whatever you want to, but I defy you to find ANY proof other than some anecdotal evidence in a movie magazine or whatever that she has a compound last name.

Quoting hal9g:

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Quoting Rifter:

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So what?  That is a relatively recent convention.  It wasn't done that way as a rule when I was a kid in the 50's, or in my parents youth during the Depression, or in my grandparents youth during the Roaring 20's.  98% of the wedding announcements in our local paper follow that same convention.  It is extremely unusual for a woman to adopt a hyphenated/compound last name unless it for business reasons, and even then most just retain their maiden name for that purpose.

So you're suggesting that we should ignore all of the folks who didn't get married when you were "a kid in the 50's, or in my parents youth during the Depression, or in my grandparents youth during the Roaring 20's."

I agree that it is unusual for a woman to adopt a hypenated last name, at least in the U.S.  Most just drop their maiden name altogether.

We can't just ignore those who take on double-barrelled names.

And once again, in your limited vision, you are only interested in your own personal experience.  Names are formed in a variety of ways all over the world.  All need to be addressed.

And once again, you cannot provide convincing proof that her name is compound.  Absent that, one errs on the side of common usage and tradition, which is what I was talking about.

Quoting RHFactor:

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Quoting Unicus69:

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Regardless of what Rifter would have you believe, it is not a US convention for a woman to automatically change her middle name to her maiden name.  It was common where he grew up but not common where I grew up.  It is a convention that is highly dependent on where and how you were raised.

Agreed 100%.  It's very VERY rare for a woman to change her middle name.  I researched Jada Pinkett Smith a while ago and it is definitely Jada//Pinkett Smith.  No question.  Just because Rifer knows a couple people that did it does NOT make it common.  Perhaps it's a tradition where he grew up, but it's extremely rare.

Oh, get over yourself.  It is NOT very rare.  It is a very old, and very common tradition in western culture.  I don't know just a couple people, I know hundreds personally, and have seen the records for thousands in the archives of the court house.  As I said before, this whole double name thing is a very recent phenomenon in the US, and while it might be prevalent in the more liberal parts of the country - especially in the big cities - it is by no means traditional.

Quoting Rifter:

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Absent that, one errs on the side of common usage and tradition, which is what I was talking about.

Common in your limited experience does not equal common to the rest of the world.