Language e-Link Twenty-two:
Alphabetizing Names!

Teach Me!

Alphabetizing Tips:

Generally, lists of names are alphabetized by the last name. To alphabetize lists by last names, look at the first and last name (and middle initial if there is one) as separate parts. Then follow these steps:

Step 1: Compare names in this order

(a) last name
(b) first name
(c) middle initial or any other names

Step 2:

Scan the names you need to list in alphabetical order, looking at the first letters of the different last names.

Step 3:

Pay attention to the order of the first letters of the different last names, and arrange the names in the order of the alphabet. Place a last name beginning with a C (such as Steve Case, who started America Online) before a last name beginning with a G (such as Bill Gates, who started Microsoft).

Step 4:

If the first letters of different last names are the same, place the names according to where the second letters come in the alphabet. In an alphabetized list, Meg Whitman, who started the Internet trading company eBay, and Mark Walsh, who started VerticalNet, would be listed:

Walsh, Mark
Whitman, Meg

In the alphabet, a, the second letter in Walsh's name, comes before h, the second letter in Whitman.

Directions: Study the alphabetized list below.

Let Me Try It!