How to Alphabetize Surnames

Alphabetizing keeps information organized and will appear many times in life.

A surname is the family name of a group of people. Common American surnames include Smith, Johnson, Williams and Jones. Americans use surnames after individual names; this practice differs from other cultures who use the surname before the individual name. Alphabetizing a list of surnames happens when writing an official list of people, such as authors, class members or employees. The ability to alphabetize may seem trivial but it is an important life skill.

Things You'll Need

• List of names
• Alphabet

Instructions

1. Know the order of the alphabet. The American alphabet is as follows: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y and Z. Keep a copy of the alphabet close in case it is needed.

2. Gather names for the list. As previously stated, common American names are Smith, Johnson, Williams and Jones. Others include Moore, Brown, Davis and Jackson.

3. Place the names in order according to the first letter of the name. The order listed above is organized as follows: Brown, Davis, Johnson, Jones, Jackson, Moore, Smith, and Williams.

4. Find names starting with the same first letter. These names will need to be organized using the second letter of the last name. The list above will have the names Johnson, Jones and Jackson reorganized as follows: Jackson, Johnson and Jones.

5. Organize the names by the third letter if the first two letters are the same. In the previous example, Johnson and Jones begin with JO, but Johnson is first in the order since H comes before N in the alphabet.

6. Double check the list for accuracy. The above example is ordered in the following manner: Brown, Davis, Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Moore, Smith and Williams.

References

• Five J's: How to Teach Alphabetical Order Without Worksheets
• Mongabay: Most Common Surnames