CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-3.xsplit
Frank Matranga
Frank Matranga

Reputation: 184

Python split full name into two variables with possibly multi-word last name

I have a list of full names which I am splitting into two variables currently like so:

first, last = full_name.split(" ")

which works only if full_name is two words when split, otherwise I get. Is there a concise way to account for a name with more parts to keep first as the first word and last as the rest of the words? I could do it with an extra line or two but I was wondering if there was an elegant way.

Upvotes: 14

Views: 27329

Answers (5)

Yaakov Bressler
Yaakov Bressler

Reputation: 12018

I'd look into using the nameparser library. It makes extracting human names a walk in the park...

from nameparser import HumanName

# Here's a full name, with a nickname
full_name = 'Mr. Lin-Manuel "The Boss" Miranda'

# Extract values
parsed_name = HumanName(full_name)

# Get just the first and last name
f_name = parsed_name.first
l_name = parsed_name.last

print(f_name, l_name)
# Lin-Manuel Miranda

# ------------------------------

# If you want to see everything:
parsed_name.as_dict()
{'title': 'Mr.',
 'first': 'Lin-Manuel',
 'middle': '',
 'last': 'Miranda',
 'suffix': '',
 'nickname': 'The Boss'}

Upvotes: 5

Sohaib Farooqi
Sohaib Farooqi

Reputation: 5666

You can use str.partition that guarantee three tuple output in the format:

(part before separator, separator itself, part after separator)

>>> "a".partition(" ")
>>> ('a', '', '')

>>> "a b".partition(" ")
>>> ('a', ' ', 'b')

>>> "a b c".partition(" ")
>>> ('a', ' ', 'b c')

Upvotes: 7

pault
pault

Reputation: 43494

Since you're using Python3, you can also use Extended Iterable Unpacking.

For example:

name = "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt"
first, *last = name.split()
print("First = {first}".format(first=first))
#First = John
print("Last = {last}".format(last=" ".join(last)))
#Last = Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

This stores everything after the first element of the split string in last. Use " ".join(last) to put the string back together.

It also works if there's only two elements to unpack.

name = "John Schmidt"
first, *last = name.split()
print("First = {first}".format(first=first))
#First = John
print("Last = {last}".format(last=" ".join(last)))
#Last = Schmidt

Or if you wanted first, middle, and last:

name = "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt"
first, middle, *last = name.split()
print("First = {first}".format(first=first))
#First = John
print("Middle = {middle}".format(middle=middle))
#Middle = Jacob
print("Last = {last}".format(last=" ".join(last)))
#Last = Jingleheimer Schmidt

Upvotes: 13

eqwert
eqwert

Reputation: 507

Look into the second parameter of split 

first, last = "First Last Second Last".split(" ", 1)

If full_name can be one word:

name_arr = full_name.split(" ", 1)
first = name_arr[0]
last = name_arr[1] if len(name_arr) > 1 else ""

Upvotes: 9

kiyah
kiyah

Reputation: 1528

You can use:

first, last = full_name.split(" ", 1)

Upvotes: 4

Related Questions