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LETTERS OF GIVEN NAME


Technical name: Person - letters of given name, text XX
METeOR identifier: 349483
METeOR link: http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/349483
METeOR definition: The combination of the 2nd and 3rd letters of a person's given name.

Scope
Inclusions: The 2nd and 3rd letters of the child's given name, for all children enrolled in a preschool program.
Exclusions:

• The 1st, 4th, and any subsequent letters of the child's given name.

• Children not enrolled in a preschool program.

• Letters of family name

• Date of birth

• Sex

• Nominal and operational definitions of Given name differ as operationally, it is infeasible for children in-scope of this collection to self-report. Therefore, the child's parent or guardian must be asked to identify the child's given names on the child's behalf.

2 - Missing letters (i.e. a given name of less than three letters)
99 - Not stated/inadequately described

	Edit specifications	Edit resolution
1.	If field is blank.	Provide valid letters of given name, otherwise amend to code ‘99’.
2.	If character length is greater than 2.	Provide valid letters of given name.

• Enter the 2nd and 3rd letters of the child's given name or first name consecutively. For example, if the child's given name is Elizabeth, the reported value should be LI. If the child's given name is Robert the reported value should be OB. If the child's given name includes non-alphabetic characters such as hyphens (as in Jo-Anne) or apostrophes (as in D'Arcy), these non-alphabetic characters should be ignored when counting the position of each character.

• Regardless of the length of a person's given name, the reported value should always be two characters long. If the given name of the person is not long enough to supply the requested letters (i.e. a name of less than three letters) then agencies should substitute the number '2' to reflect the missing letters.

• The placement of a number '2' should always correspond to the same space that the missing letter would have within the 2-digit field. A number (rather than a letter) is used for such substitutions in order to clearly indicate that an appropriate corresponding letter from the person's name is not available. For example: If the person's legal name was Jo then the value reported would be O2 because the 2 is substituting for the missing 3rd letter of the given name.

• In some cultures it is traditional to state the family name first. To overcome discrepancies in recording/reporting that may arise as a result of this practice, agencies should always ask the person to specify their given name and their family name separately. These should then be recorded as first given name and family name as appropriate, regardless of the order in which they may be traditionally given.

• If the person's given name is missing altogether, record 99 for the two spaces associated with the given name (not the number 2).

• This data element should be reported for the child only, i.e. this information is not required for teachers.