Unique Identification of Names

Every person is unique.

At least we hope so! So each person should exist only once in Merlin. For this reason Merlin gives each Person a Unique Name Identity in a Site's segment of data on the Merlin Data Base.

There are certain Unique Identifiers that determine who we are. Some of us, unfortunately, will never know who we are. Some of these Unique Identifiers are: Social Security Number if you live in the USA Identity Number used in many countries except the UK. Passport Number which those in the UK do have but not everyone remembers or uses.

So as you can see these Unique Identifiers are normally associated with specific Countries and thus don't apply to everyone. Also, we do not necessarily know these Unique Identifiers when we load a Name into Merlin, especially if the Name is taken from a Registration Page on a Web Site. So Merlin uses Email Address as a semi Unique Identifier as well as Address and Telephone Number.

In the UK, because each post code is linked to very few homes, this can be used as a form of Unique Identifier. When adding a Name to Merlin you will be prompted if Merlin finds some possible matches for the Name being added. If the Person already has their Name in Merlin then it is better not to ADD the new Name but to use the existing Name already in Merlin for the Person and to update this with additional information if you have any.

If you are not sure ADD A NEW NAME. Merlin has a facility to MERGE or DE-DUPLICATE Names once you find you have duplicates.