Q&A for How to Alphabetize

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How would I file a person if he has two last names? For example: John Doe-Wolf.

Community Answer

Hyphenated names are treated as one unit. Thus, the name would be filed as: Doe-Wolf, John.

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Question

Where do you file initials, like 'AT&T'?

Community Answer

The same way as normal words, under the letter A. For example: 1. Allstate. 2. Amazon. 3. AT&T. 4. AutoZone.

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Question

How can I alphabetize book titles?

Community Answer

Just alphabetize normally, A to Z. You can choose to put series in order of publication or in alphabetic order.

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If two names are the same, but one has a middle initial, which name is alphabetized first?

Community Answer

The name without the middle initial would be alphabetized first, i.e. "Goode, John" would be listed before "Goode, John B."

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Question

How do I alphabetize titles starting with "The" or "A"?

Community Answer

The words "The"," A", and, "An" are disregarded as first words of titles. For example, The Cat in the Hat would be alphabetized using "cat" and not "the."

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Question

Would "king" or "kingdom" come first alphabetically?

Community Answer

"King" would go first; they both contain the prefix "king," but "kingdom" contains the extra letters "D, O, M." In the dictionary they put the prefix by itself first.

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How do I alphabetize Grand Rapids and Greenville?

Community Answer

Go through each letter. Both start with G, and then both have an R. For the next letter, Grand Rapids has an "A," and Greenville has an "E." Which letter comes first, A or E? That is the order you should use. If you prefer, you can organize it as "Rapids, Grand" and put that one in the "R's."

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Question

How do I alphabetize names that begin with O, such as O'Donnell or O'Leary?

Community Answer

Prefixes should NOT be considered a separate word or name. The "O" is combined with the following name and together considered as one unit. You should ignore the punctuation. Therefore, O'Donnell is filed as ODonnell, and O'Leary is filed as OLeary.

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Question

How do I alphabetize street addresses?

Community Answer

Alphabetize numbers as if they were spelled out. For example: One Hundred Johnson Street would come before Twelve Johnson Street.

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Question

What comes first when alphabetizing first names?

Community Answer

Names beginning with A come first. If the surname is not being alphabetised, then ignore that and just go with first names from A to Z. For example, Anna, Bob, Carla, Dave, Ellie .... Vera, Wanda, Yolanda and Zack.

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Question

Would 'J Carlson Services' be filed under C or J?

Community Answer

J, as you ignore the space and it would be J Carlson is considered one word.

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How do I alphabetize AAA A Bee Service and A Better Business?

Community Answer

"A Bee Service" should be alphabetized as "Bee Service, A." Similarly, "A Better Business" should be alphabetized as "Better Business, A." From A-Z, the list would be alphabetized as: AAA, (A) Bee Service, (A) Better Business.

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Question

How to alphabetize these titles: "John the Baptist,"; "John, Architect,"; "John Cunningham,"; and "Johnny Appleseed."

Rainy

Top Answerer

In standard alphabetical order, they would be organized like this: 1. Johnny Appleseed; 2. John, Architect; 3. John Cunningham; 4. John the Baptist.

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