5.3 Alphabetic Filing Rules: Personal, Business, Organizational & Government Names

5.3 Alphabetic Filing Rules: Personal, Business, Organizational & Government Names

[!WARNING] The Part 2 outline carries an explicit authority note: the Gregg Reference Manual, 11th edition, is the only accepted authority for filing questions. That instruction disposes of an entire category of candidate objections. If your firm indexes differently, your firm is not the authority for this examination.

Alphabetic indexing works by breaking a name into indexing units and comparing units in order, letter by letter. Two names are compared at unit 1; only if unit 1 is identical do you move to unit 2. Everything below is an application of that single mechanic.

---

Rule 1: Personal Names

A personal name indexes in this order:

Rule 2: "Nothing Before Something"

A unit that ends where another continues files first. An initial always precedes a spelled-out name beginning with the same letter.

1. Brown, J.
2. Brown, James
3. Brown, Jamison
4. Browne, J.

Note line 4: Brown files before Browne for the same reason, applied to unit 1.

Rule 3: Punctuation Is Disregarded

All punctuation is ignored, and hyphenated elements combine into a single unit.

Rule 4: Surname Prefixes and Particles

A prefix or particle is part of the surname and combines with it into one unit. Spaces, apostrophes, and capitalization are ignored.

Common prefixes: D', Da, De, De la, Del, Della, Des, Di, Du, El, Fitz, La, Las, Le, Les, Lo, Los, M', Mac, Mc, O', Saint, St., Ste., San, Santa, Ten, Ter, Van, Van de, Van der, Von, Von der.

Because the prefix is absorbed, MacAllister files before McAllister — compare letter by letter: M-a versus M-c, and a precedes c. Candidates who file all "Mc" names as if spelled "Mac" get this backwards.

Rule 5: Titles and Suffixes

In a personal name, a title or suffix becomes the last indexing unit, used to distinguish otherwise identical names. Titles precede the name (Capt., Dr., Miss, Mr., Mrs., Ms., Prof., Sgt.); suffixes follow it and include both seniority terms (II, III, Jr., Sr.) and professional designations (CPA, CRM, MD, Ph.D.). Numeric suffixes file before alphabetic suffixes. When a name carries both a title and a suffix, the title is the last unit.

Filing order for the same personal name: Finch, Harold II, then Finch, Harold III, then Finch, Harold Jr., then Finch, Harold Sr. — numeric suffixes in numeric order first, then alphabetic suffixes alphabetically.

In a business name, by contrast, a title is indexed as written and in position: Dr Pepper Bottling Company indexes Dr / Pepper / Bottling / Company.

Rule 6: Business Names Are Indexed As Written

Each word or abbreviation in a business name is a separate unit, in the order written. Two refinements:

• An article beginning a business name becomes the last unit. The Bookbinder Press indexes Bookbinder / Press / The.
• Minor words inside the name are separate units in position. Association of Legal Professionals indexes Association / of / Legal / Professionals.

Rule 7: Symbols Are Spelled Out

Ramirez & Sons indexes Ramirez / and / Sons.

Rule 8: Single Letters and Abbreviations

Rule 9: Numbers in Business Names

This is the rule candidates most often miss.

• Numbers written as figures file in ascending numeric order and are placed before all alphabetic names.
• Numbers written as words file alphabetically in their normal place.
• Arabic numerals file before Roman numerals.
• Ordinals file by value: 3rd before 21st.
• A number joined to a word by a hyphen is one unit with the hyphen disregarded.

Correct order:

1. 4 Corners Realty
2. 21st Century Title
3. 500 Madison Partners
4. XIV Holdings
5. Ace Abstract Company
6. Four Winds Escrow
7. Twenty-One Capital

Lines 1 through 3 are Arabic figures in ascending value; line 4 is a Roman numeral; lines 5 through 7 are alphabetic, with the spelled-out numbers filing under F and T rather than by value.

Rule 10: Organizations and Institutions

Banks and other financial institutions, colleges and universities, hospitals, hotels and motels, magazines and newspapers, religious institutions, schools, and unions are indexed as written on the letterhead, with cross-references where a requester might search differently.

Saint Bridget Regional Medical Center indexes Saintbridget / Regional / Medical / Center, with a cross-reference from St. Bridget.

Rule 11: Identical Names

When two names are identical through all units, use the address as the tiebreaker, in this order:

1. City
2. State or province
3. Street name
4. House or building number, in ascending numeric order

Rule 12: Government Names

Federal. The first three indexing units are always United States Government. The agency name follows, with Department of, Bureau of, Office of, and similar prepositional phrases transposed so the distinctive word leads.

State, county, and local. Index the governmental unit first, then the distinctive department, transposing State of, County of, or City of.

Foreign. Index under the English name of the country first, then the balance of the name, with a cross-reference from the foreign-language form.

[!TIP] Exam pattern: A government filing item usually supplies a name in ordinary prose order and asks for the first indexing unit. For any federal body the answer is United States; for a state body it is the state name; for a city body it is the city name. That single reflex answers most of them.