Split fullname into first and last name - tsql

Question

If I have a table with a column that contains fullnames such as:
fullname
------------
Joe Bloggs
Peter Smith
Mary Jones and Liz Stone
How can I retrieve the first and last name from each of the entries in the full name column using SQL. I'm not worried about the second name in the 3rd entry in my example i.e. Liz Stone.
So basically to retrieve
Firstname
---------
Joe
Peter
Mary
Lastname
--------
Bloggs
Smith
Jones

Answer 1

Here is a pre SQL Server 2016 method, which uses basic string functions to isolate the first and last names.
SELECT SUBSTRING(fullname, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', fullname) - 1) AS Firstname,
SUBSTRING(fullname,
CHARINDEX(' ', fullname) + 1,
LEN(fullname) - CHARINDEX(' ', fullname)) AS Lastname
FROM yourTable
Note that this solution assumes that the fullname column only contains a single first name and a single last name (i.e. no middle names, initials, etc.).

Answer 2

This is a slippery slope and there are no easy answers. That said, consider the following
Declare #YourTable table (FullName varchar(50))
Insert Into #YourTable values
('Joe Bloggs'),
('Peter Smith'),
('Betty Jane Martinez'),
('Mary Jones and Liz Stone')
Select A.*
,FirstName = Pos1+case when Pos3 is not null then ' '+Pos2 else '' end
,LastName = case when Pos3 is null then Pos2 else Pos3 end
From #YourTable A
Cross Apply (
Select Pos1 = xDim.value('/x[1]','varchar(max)')
,Pos2 = xDim.value('/x[2]','varchar(max)')
,Pos3 = xDim.value('/x[3]','varchar(max)')
,Pos4 = xDim.value('/x[4]','varchar(max)')
,Pos5 = xDim.value('/x[5]','varchar(max)')
,Pos6 = xDim.value('/x[6]','varchar(max)')
From (Select Cast('<x>' + replace((Select substring(FullName,1,charindex(' and ',FullName+' and ')-1) as [*] For XML Path('')),' ','</x><x>')+'</x>' as xml) as xDim) as A
) B
Returns
FullName FirstName LastName
Joe Bloggs Joe Bloggs
Peter Smith Peter Smith
Betty Jane Martinez Betty Jane Martinez
Mary Jones and Liz Stone Mary Jones
If it helps with the visual, the CROSS APPLY generates

Answer 3

SELECT CASE
WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', FullName) > 0
THEN SUBSTRING(FullName, 1, LEN(FullName) - CHARINDEX(' ', REVERSE(FullName)))
ELSE ''
END AS FirstName,
CASE
WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', FullName) > 0
THEN REVERSE(SUBSTRING(REVERSE(FullName),
1,
CHARINDEX(' ', REVERSE(FullName)) - 1))
ELSE FullName
END AS LastName
FROM(VALUES('Mary Anne Bloggs'), ('Joe Bloggs'), ('Bloggs')) AS T(FullName);
This version checks that there is a space in the full name to split on. If there isn't then the first name is set to an empty string and the full name is put into the surname. Also, reverse is employed to split on the last space when there is more than one space

Answer 4

I use this query to retrieve first and lastname
SELECT
SUBSTRING(FULLNAME, 1, CASE WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', FULLNAME)>0 THEN CHARINDEX(' ', FULLNAME) - 1 ELSE LEN(FULLNAME) END ) AS Firstname,
REVERSE(SUBSTRING(REVERSE(FULLNAME), 1, CASE WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', REVERSE(FULLNAME))>0 THEN CHARINDEX(' ', REVERSE(FULLNAME)) - 1 ELSE LEN(REVERSE(FULLNAME)) END ) ) AS Firstname
FROM HRMDESFO.EMPLOID
Results

Answer 5

BigQuery: Standard SQL
substr(name,1,STRPOS(name,' ')-1) as FirstName,
substr(name,STRPOS(name,' ')+1,length(name)) as LastName

Answer 6

This is the easiest and shortest to this question without any assumptions. Also you can even further enhance this with a rtrim(ltrim('firstname lastname')).
Just in case of any spaces before the strings,
Select
substring('Firstname Lastname',1,CHARINDEX(' ', 'Firstname Lastname')) as firstname,
substring('Firstname Lastname',CHARINDEX(' ', 'Firstname Lastname'),LEN('Firstname Lastname')) as Lastname

Answer 7

select passemail,substring(passemail,1,instr(passemail,'#') - 1) as name ,
substring(passemail,instr(passemail,'#') + 1,length(passemail)) from passenger

Answer 8

For getting firstName
SELECT SUBSTR(FULLNAME,1,(LOCATE(' ',FULLNAME))) AS FIRSTTNAME from EmployeeDetails;
FOR LASTNAME
SELECT SUBSTR(FULLNAME,(LOCATE(' ',FULLNAME))) AS LASTNAME from EmployeeDetails;
SO
SELECT SUBSTR(FULLNAME,1,(LOCATE(' ',FULLNAME))) AS FIRSTTNAME, SUBSTR(FULLNAME,(LOCATE(' ',FULLNAME))) AS LASTNAME from EmployeeDetails;

Answer 9

SELECT
LEFT(column_name, POSITION(' ' IN column_name)-1) AS first_name,
RIGHT(column_name, LENGTH(column_name) - POSITION(' ' IN column_name)) AS last_name
FROM table_name

Answer 10

SELECT SUBSTRING(candidate_name, 1, CASE WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', candidate_name)>0 THEN CHARINDEX(' ', candidate_name) - 1
ELSE LEN(candidate_name) END ) AS Firstname,
SUBSTRING(substring(candidate_name,CHARINDEX(' ', candidate_name)+1,LEN(candidate_name)), 1,
CASE WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', candidate_name)>1 THEN CHARINDEX(' ', substring(candidate_name,CHARINDEX(' ', candidate_name)+1,LEN(candidate_name)))
ELSE null END ) AS middle_name,
REVERSE(SUBSTRING(REVERSE(candidate_name), 1,
CASE WHEN CHARINDEX(' ', REVERSE(candidate_name))>0
THEN CHARINDEX(' ', REVERSE(candidate_name)) - 1
ELSE null END ) )AS last_name
FROM Test_name

Answer 11

So first we have to find the index for space(" ") because space is the character which is separating the two words ( first_name+" "+last_name).
In my case, its mid_index is a variable that stores the index for space(" ").
SELECT primary_poc, STRPOS(fullname,' ') AS "mid_index"
FROM yourTable_name
*Now we will use min_index to find the left and right sides of words. For this, we can use a subquery.
Below is the final query *
SELECT fullname,
LEFT(fullname, mid_index - 1) AS "first_name",
RIGHT(fullname, LENGTH(primary_poc) - mid_index) AS "last_name"
FROM
(
SELECT primary_poc, STRPOS(fullname,' ') AS "mid_index"
FROM yourTable_name
) AS t1

Answer 12

SELECT
SUBSTR(NAME,1,(LOCATE(NAME, ' '))) AS FIRSTTNAME
, SUBSTR(NAME,(LOCATE(NAME, ' ')+1)) AS LASTNAME
FROM yourTABLE;

Answer 13

FOR SQL SERVER
SELECT
SUBSTRING(fullname, 0, CHARINDEX(' ', fullname)) AS FirstName
,SUBSTRING(fullname, CHARINDEX(' ', fullname), LEN(fullname)) AS LastName
FROM [YourTable]
If your full name has another delimiter aside from space, such as dashes, you substitute in the dash e.g
SELECT
SUBSTRING(fullname, 0, CHARINDEX('-', fullname)) AS FirstName
,SUBSTRING(fullname, CHARINDEX('-', fullname), LEN(fullname)) AS LastName
FROM [YourTable]

Answer 14

In Postgres SQL
SELECT fullname,
SUBSTRING(fullname, 1, POSITION(' ' IN fullname) - 1) as first_name ,
SUBSTRING(fullname,(position(' 'in fullname))) AS lastname from details;

Answer 15

You can use,
STRING_SPLIT (string , separator)