Second Generation Name Matching Methods

Abstract

Second generation name matching methods (G2 Methods) are direct progressions from G1 Methods. They have solved some of the most obvious problems of their predecessors and, as a result, provide marked improvements in both precision and recall. For the most part, they represent relatively recent developments and so have been designed with more modern technological capabilities in mind. Overall, they provide clear advantages over G1 Methods, but the market has not adopted them as enthusiastically as might have been expected.

One reason for this may be that the advent of G2 Methods cannot really be seen as a conceptual revolution in identity matching theory. In much the same way as the early tweaking of the original G1 Methods, G2 Methods represent a technology-driven optimisation of existing solutions; neither linguistics nor onomastic research feature strongly in their design. Examples of their benefits are usually given with reference to familiar examples from the Anglo-Saxon community, while the true global context of international name matching continues to be held at arm’s length.