Configuration

Config is a small bag of options that controls how Namefully reads its inputs and how it renders its outputs. All seven knobs have sensible defaults, so you can construct a Namefully without any options at all — but the moment you hit a non-English name, a comma-separated input, or a Hispanic surname, this page is where you'll come.

Defaults at a glance

{
  orderedBy: NameOrder.FIRST_NAME,
  separator: Separator.SPACE,
  title:    Title.UK,
  ending:   false,
  bypass:   true,
  surname:  Surname.FATHER,
}

That's the configuration you get if you pass no options. The rest of this page walks through each one.

---

orderedBy

Type: NameOrder · Default: NameOrder.FIRST_NAME

Tells Namefully which side of a string or array input is the given name. The first element of 'Smith John' is the first name unless you say otherwise.

import { Namefully, NameOrder } from 'namefully';

const name1 = new Namefully('Smith John Joe', { orderedBy: NameOrder.LAST_NAME });
name1.last; // 'Smith'

const name2 = new Namefully(['Edison', 'Thomas'], { orderedBy: NameOrder.LAST_NAME });
name2.first; // 'Thomas'

This option is sticky: it doesn't just affect parsing, it also affects how the instance renders itself by default. So name1.fullName() will produce Smith John Joe, not John Joe Smith. You can ask for a different order on the fly though:

const name = new Namefully('Smith John Joe', { orderedBy: NameOrder.LAST_NAME });
name.fullName(NameOrder.FIRST_NAME); // 'John Joe Smith'

Or flip the instance's default in place (one of the few mutating calls in the API):

name.flip(); // now orderedBy is FIRST_NAME for this instance

---

separator

Type: Separator · Default: Separator.SPACE

Only relevant for raw string inputs. Tells Namefully how to split a single string into parts.

import { Namefully, Separator } from 'namefully';

const name = new Namefully('John,Smith', { separator: Separator.COMMA });
name.full; // 'John Smith'

The built-in separators are: SPACE, COMMA, COLON, SEMI_COLON, PERIOD, HYPHEN, UNDERSCORE, SINGLE_QUOTE, DOUBLE_QUOTE, EMPTY. They map to exactly the characters you'd guess.

For arrays and objects this option is ignored — those inputs already declare their boundaries.

---

title

Type: Title · Default: Title.UK

Controls whether prefixes are abbreviated with a trailing period. North American English conventionally uses periods (Mr., Dr.); British and Australian English omit them (Mr, Dr).

import { Namefully, Title } from 'namefully';

const name = new Namefully(
  { prefix: 'Mr', firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Smith' },
  { title: Title.US },
);

name.full;   // 'Mr. John Smith'
name.prefix; // 'Mr.'

If you don't pass a prefix, this option is moot.

---

ending

Type: boolean · Default: false

Insert a comma between the last name and the suffix.

import { Namefully } from 'namefully';

const name = new Namefully(
  { firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Smith', suffix: 'Ph.D' },
  { ending: true },
);

name.full;   // 'John Smith, Ph.D'
name.suffix; // 'Ph.D'

Off, you get John Smith Ph.D. On, you get the comma. It is a small thing and it lives here.

---

bypass

Type: boolean · Default: true

Skip the built-in validators. The defaults are designed to let things through rather than reject them — names are unruly and your data is probably weirder than your test fixtures.

Turn it off when you want strict input checking:

import { Namefully } from 'namefully';

const name = new Namefully(
  {
    firstName: 'John',
    lastName: 'Smith',
    suffix: 'M.Sc.', // would fail the validator rule
  },
  { bypass: false, ending: true },
);
// throws a ValidationError

The validators check things like supported writing systems, allowed characters in prefixes and suffixes, and minimum length. With bypass: true (the default) you can shove almost anything through; with bypass: false you get the safety rails. There is no middle setting — it's all or nothing.

---

surname

Type: Surname · Default: Surname.FATHER

How to render a compound (Hispanic-style) surname when one is supplied.

The four options:

Value	Renders as
Surname.FATHER	father's surname only (Doe)
Surname.MOTHER	mother's surname only (Smith)
Surname.HYPHENATED	both joined with - (Doe-Smith)
Surname.ALL	both joined with space (Doe Smith)

import { FirstName, LastName, Namefully, Surname } from 'namefully';

const name = new Namefully(
  [new FirstName('John'), new LastName('Doe', 'Smith')],
  { surname: Surname.HYPHENATED },
);

name.full; // 'John Doe-Smith'

This option only matters when the LastName has both a father and a mother set. If the surname is just 'Doe', the choice is invisible.

You can also pass Surname.* directly to a LastName constructor; the value set on Config wins if both are present.

:::info Mononyms v1.3.1 does not support single-token names (Plato, Madonna). They throw at construction. Mononym support arrived in v2 via a mono config flag — see What's new in v2 if you need it. :::

---

The name option (config naming)

There's also an eighth knob — name — that you'll see in the type but rarely set. It's the name of the configuration, not the person.

new Namefully('Jane Smith', { name: 'us-payroll', title: Title.US });

Config is a multiton; each named config is independent. Passing no name gets you the default config; passing options without a name forks off an anonymous one. You only need to set this explicitly if you're maintaining several distinct configurations in the same process and want them clearly separable.