Today we’re announcing the release of the FullContact Name Parser API, a new endpoint for parsing unstructured name strings into structured JSON or XML.

The Name Parser method  should be used when you have a string that contains two names, but you don’t know which one is the first name and which is the last name. You simply pass the unstructured name string to the Name Parser method via the q parameter. This method will disambiguate the names and return a JSON or XML file containing the following data:

• ambiguousName
• givenName
• familyName
• likelihood
• region

For example, to disambiguate the name string “smith john”, submit the query https://api.fullcontact.com/v2/name/parser.json?q=smith%20john&apiKey=xxx. This returns:

{
  "status": 200,
  "ambiguousName": "John Smith",
  "result": {
    "givenName": "John",
    "familyName": "Smith",
    "likelihood": 1
  },
  "region": "USA"
}

To receive an XML response, query https://api.fullcontact.com/v2/name/parser.xml?q=smith%20john&apiKey=xxx. This returns:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<person>
  <status>200</status>
  <ambiguousName>John Smith</ambiguousName>
  <result>
    <givenName>John</givenName>
    <familyName>Smith</familyName>
    <likelihood>1</likelihood>
  </result>
  <region>USA</region>
</person>

Similar to the Name Normalization API, Name Parser uses US census data and specialized algorithms to parse the name string, determine the correct order of the names, and calculate the likelihood that this order is correct.

Why reinvent the wheel? If you’re writing code to deal with Name Disambiguation, give the FullContact Name Parser a try and let us know what you think. This API is completely free to use, just sign-up for an API key to get started parsing names.