Stuart, 

You could download the entire Names file in "nt" serialization, then there's one line for each name you can filter on:

	<http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr2001046558> <http://www.loc.gov/mads/rdf/v1#authoritativeLabel> "Smith, Jim, 1940 October 17-" .

Then you can do what you want with the quoted text.

Saves bandwidth for you and us.

https://id.loc.gov/download/

Good luck,

Nate


-----------------------------------------
Nate Trail
Network Development & MARC Standards Office
LCSG/DPS/ABA/NDMSO
Library of Congress
Washington DC 20540


-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Kevin Hawkins
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2026 2:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Regexp for rewriting LoC LCCN authorised personal names

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Hello Stuart,

Do you mean that you want to convert LCNAF personal names from this sort of order:

Mudge, Lewis Seymour, 1868-1945

to something like this:

Lewis Seymour Mudge, 1868-1945

?  But then also deal with authorized forms containing no commas, forms with more than two commas, and occasional use of parentheses.  So, as you know, it gets complicated.

I wonder if a different approach might make more sense here:

1. Query the inverted LCNAF form at https://id.loc.gov/

2. Retrieve the URI, extracting the identifier (beginning with "n")

3. Query Wikidata using this identifier.

4. Retrieve Wikidata's form of the name, which is not inverted.

--Kevin

On 5/3/26 1:25 PM, Stuart A. Yeates wrote:
> Does anyone know of somewhere that describes LCCN authorised personal 
> names as regexps? I want to be able to rewrite them at scale to 'normal' order.
>
> AI appears to be actively undermining the functionality of search engines.
>
> cheers
> stuart
> --
> ...let us be heard from red core to black sky