1.1 Alphabetical Filing Rules

1.1 Alphabetical Filing Rules

Alphabetical filing is the most common system for organizing documents and records in civil service and business environments. It is structured around the alphabetization of names—both personal and organizational. By standardizing how names are broken down, coded, and sequenced, records managers can ensure that any file can be located quickly by different users.

This section covers the core rules of alphabetical filing, focusing on personal names, surname prefixes, hyphenated names, and the treatment of suffixes and professional titles.

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1. Indexing Units and the Order of Names

To file a name alphabetically, it must first be indexed. Indexing is the process of breaking a name down into distinct components called indexing units and determining the order in which these units will be considered.

For personal names, the standard civil service and ARMA (Association of Records Managers and Administrators) rules dictate the following unit order:

1. Unit 1 (Primary Unit): Surname (Last Name)
2. Unit 2 (Secondary Unit): Given Name (First Name)
3. Unit 3 (Tertiary Unit): Middle Name or Middle Initial

If there is no middle name or initial, that unit is simply omitted.

The Rule of "Nothing Before Something"

A foundational rule in alphabetical filing is that "nothing comes before something." This means that an indexing unit containing only a single letter or initial is filed before a unit containing a full name starting with that same letter. Similarly, a name with no middle initial is filed before a name with a middle initial.

Consider these examples sorted in correct alphabetical order:

• Smith, J. (J. is a single initial and comes before Jack)
• Smith, Jack (Jack has no middle initial—"nothing" in Unit 3)
• Smith, Jack A. (Unit 3 has "A.", which is "something")
• Smith, Jack Arthur (Unit 3 has "Arthur", which is longer than "A.")

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2. Special Rules for Surname Prefixes

Surname prefixes are common in names of various cultural origins (e.g., Mc, Mac, Van, De, La, von, du, and O'). Civil service exams frequently test these because historical and modern systems sometimes differ.

Modern OPM and Standard Jurisdictional Rules

In modern civil service and standard OPM filing systems, surname prefixes are treated as part of the surname itself. They are indexed as a single unit, ignoring all spaces, apostrophes, and capitalization differences. The name is alphabetized letter-by-letter as it is spelled.

• Treat Mc and Mac exactly as spelled: In older filing systems, "Mc" names were filed before "Mac" names or grouped together in a separate section. Modern rules have abandoned this. "Mc" and "Mac" are filed strictly letter-by-letter. For example, "McAllen" (M-C-A-L...) is filed after "McAdams" (M-C-A-D...) and before "Mead" (M-E-A-D...).
• Ignore spaces and capitalization: Names like "De La Cruz" are indexed as "DeLaCruz".
• Ignore punctuation: Names like "O'Connor" are indexed as "OConnor".

Sorting Order Example:

1. Mabry, Susan
2. MacAdams, Arthur (M-A-C-A...)
3. MacDonald, Sarah (M-A-C-D...)
4. McAdams, Brian (M-C-A-D...)
5. McAllen, George (M-C-A-L...)
6. Mead, Charles (M-E-A-D...)

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3. Hyphenated Names

Hyphenated surnames (e.g., Smith-Jones or Alvarez-Lopez) are treated as a single indexing unit. The hyphen is completely ignored, and the two names are merged into one continuous word.

• Example: The name "Sarah Smith-Jones" is indexed as:
  • Unit 1: Smithjones
  • Unit 2: Sarah
• Example: The name "Elena Alvarez-Lopez" is indexed as:
  • Unit 1: Alvarezlopez
  • Unit 2: Elena

If two hyphenated names are identical when merged, sorting is determined by the next available unit (such as the first name or middle initial).

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4. Titles, Degrees, and Seniority Suffixes

Seniority suffixes (Jr., Sr., II, III) and professional titles (Dr., Mayor, Captain, Ph.D.) are indexed after the main parts of the name.

Seniority Suffixes

Seniority suffixes are used to distinguish between identical names. Under standard ARMA and civil service rules, they are treated as Unit 4 (the fourth indexing unit).

• Numeric Suffixes First: Roman numerals (II, III, IV) are filed first in numerical order (II, then III, then IV).
• Alphabetic Suffixes Second: Seniority terms like "Junior" (Jr.) and "Senior" (Sr.) are filed next, in alphabetical order (Jr., then Sr.).
• Suffixes are only used to determine sorting order when Units 1, 2, and 3 are completely identical.

Professional Titles and Degrees

Titled (Dr., Prof., Rev., Capt., Mayor) and degrees (Ph.D., M.D., D.D.S.) are generally ignored for filing purposes. They may be written in parentheses at the end of the index card for identification but do not affect sorting unless two names are otherwise completely identical. If two names are identical in every way, the title is treated as the final unit and sorted alphabetically.

Correct Sorting Example:

1. Davis, John, II
2. Davis, John, III
3. Davis, John, Jr.
4. Davis, John, Sr.
5. Davis, John, Sr. (Dr.) (Identical to the previous entry, but distinguished by the professional title "Dr.")

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5. Indexing Business and Government Names

While personal names are inverted (last name first), business and organizational names are indexed exactly as they are written, word-by-word.

Key Business Rules:

• Handling "The": If "The" is the first word of a business name, it is treated as the final indexing unit (e.g., "The Daily Chronicle" is indexed as: Unit 1: Daily, Unit 2: Chronicle, Unit 3: The).
• Numbers in Names: Numbers written as digits (e.g., "7-Eleven" or "24-Hour Fitness") are filed before all alphabetic names. They are sorted in numeric sequence. Numbers spelled as words (e.g., "Seven-Eleven") are filed in their regular alphabetical position.
• Abbreviations: Common business abbreviations (Co., Inc., Corp., Ltd.) are indexed as written and are treated as separate units.

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6. Comprehensive Alphabetical Filing Reference Table

Below is a reference guide demonstrating the unit breakdown for various names under standard filing rules: