Built for real name lists
Class rosters, attendance sheets, donor and thank-you lists, committee and team rosters, cast and crew credits, and guest lists are rarely tidy. This sorter finds the last name and ignores the clutter around it:
- Titles: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Reverend, The Honorable
- Suffixes: Jr., Sr., II, III, IV, Esq.
- Couples: “Tom and Mary Jones” and “Mr. & Mrs. Fred Flintstone” sort under Jones and Flintstone
- Guests: “Sam Adams & Guest”, “Lisa Ray +1” and “The Wilson Family” sort under Adams, Ray and Wilson
- Last, First: “O’Neil, Patrick” sorts under O’Neil
- Hyphens and apostrophes: Smith-Jones and O’Brien sort as single names
- Extra details: phone numbers or notes after the name are ignored
When two people share a last name, they are sorted by first name.
Names with scores, IDs or other columns
Extra details after the name, like a student number or a phone number, are ignored when sorting, and they stay attached to their name. To sort a roster by score or ID instead, use Sort by column.
Need “Last, First” instead?
Swap first and last turns “John Smith” into “Smith John” and “Smith, John” into “John, Smith”. It works on simple two-part names; for anything fancier, sort first and leave the names as they are.
Sorting mailing addresses?
If each entry is a whole address block, use Sort addresses, which sorts blocks separated by blank lines by the name on their first line.
A guest list
Mr. John Smith Dr. Ann Baker Tom and Mary Jones The Honorable Lisa Ray Carl Zimmerman Jr. O'Neil, Patrick Sam Adams & Guest Mr. and Mrs. Fred Flintstone
Sam Adams & Guest Dr. Ann Baker Mr. and Mrs. Fred Flintstone Tom and Mary Jones O'Neil, Patrick The Honorable Lisa Ray Mr. John Smith Carl Zimmerman Jr.
Questions
How does it decide which word is the last name?
It removes titles, suffixes and words like “Guest” or “Family”, then uses the last remaining word. For couples it uses whichever half of the name is complete, so “Tom and Mary Jones” sorts under Jones.
Will it change how my names are written?
No. The sort only looks at a cleaned-up copy of each name. Your list keeps every title, comma and suffix exactly as you typed it.
Can I sort names in a comma separated list?
Yes. Set “Items are separated by” to Commas, as long as the names themselves don’t contain commas. For “Last, First” names keep one name per line.
Is it safe to paste a list of real people?
Yes. Everything happens in your browser and nothing is uploaded.