The ability to distinguish individuals from events (., hospital admis- sions) is a key feature of a cancer registry. Thus, the registry should have sufficient information on each individual to avoid multiple registrations of the same subject. The most universal and generally used identifier is the name. The utility of using names will vary depending on local cus- tom. For instance, surname (or family name) may not be used—persons may be known only by their first name. Individuals may change their name when they get married or for other social reasons. Variations in spelling of names is a frequent problem, particularly if a large percentage of the population is.
