skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
And government IT - the least efficient kind! - has managed to solve this.

Governments essentially avoid this problem, and they have for generations, because they realized that names are intractably hard. This is why they give people numbers instead.

Here's my name written in my passport (US): "MC KENZIE PATRICK JOHNATHAN" The Passport Control Center is the only organization which thinks I have a space in my name.

If you go to Cook County and grab a copy of my birth certificate, it says "Patrick Jonathan McKenzie". I was a poor speller as a kid and thought Johnathan had two Hs until I was a teenager. Whoopsie. Now it does because it's just too much hassle to go get it changed now.

The Illinois DMV thinks I'm Patrick McKenzie. Ogaki City Hall thinks I'm McKenzie Patrick Johnathan in one part of the office, ミッケンジーパトリック in another part, パトリックミッケンジー in another, and ミッケンジーP in a fourth part. The national tax agency said, direct quote, "Sorry about our software being unable to accept your name. On the bright side, we really couldn't care less, as long as you pay your taxes on time."

Well, I know people who IRL insist on being called by made-up names, mostly goths, you know, something like Darkraven Bloodmisery.

I know a lot of people IRL who insist on being called by made-up names. I know Japanese and Chinese people who have "use names", because some white folks think Hideyuki is a mouthful and couldn't guess that he's a man. I know neighborhoods in Chicago where Irish Catholics are so thick on the ground that you'd better come up with a nickname if you're a Patrick or a Mary because otherwise half the class will have a hash collision with you. (I was Patrick Johnathan -- the other Patrick Jonathan beat me at rock paper scissors and claimed the coveted PJ.)

I also know some goths who use made up names, including a Robert who -- cheeky blighter -- insists he is really a Bob.

Also, just a self-preservation tip: don't ever repeat that comment near a liberal arts faculty if you value your sanity. They will be on you like vegetarian tigers/esses/etc on a fresh, juicy bit of fair trade tofu.