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I know that there is a preselected candidate for a position to be filled at my department. What should I do?

Why is the LastName field required for the contact? What is the best approach to import contacts that only have the first name?

Upper / Lower caseData Import Wizard for Contacts, prevent duplicates?Make contact firstname and lastname mandatoryError with new unified import wizardwhen importing data into salesforce for a custom object I got some rows that were not importedDisplay contacts with same user firstname and lastnameHad a user put parentheses in a last name for a contact and the contact wouldn't update after thatSOQL - Query for Last Name of ContactsContacts with MiddleName values and queriesFormula for a field

.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;

2

The reason for this question is that I have a spreadsheet with lots of contacts to import, but some of them only have the first name. The LastName, being mandatory, will make my job harder.

I have seen people switching the FirstName and LastName labels so that the first name is mandatory for the user (but on the API, the user is filling the last name), but that seems to be a bad workaround to me.

What would be the best practice to import contacts that do not have the last name? Put something generic on the field?

contact required-field data-import

share|improve this question

asked 8 hours ago

Renato OliveiraRenato Oliveira

5,52422158

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I have seen elsewhere people use LNU which represents Last Name Unknown. Salesforce doesn't have any plan to remove this validation from last name.
  
  – Jayant Das
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That sounds reasonable enough, actually. 🤔 UND ("Último Nome Desconhecido", in Portuguese) sounds good.
  
  – Renato Oliveira
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Please answer the question! I'll happily accept that as the answer.
  
  – Renato Oliveira
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

2

The reason for this question is that I have a spreadsheet with lots of contacts to import, but some of them only have the first name. The LastName, being mandatory, will make my job harder.

I have seen people switching the FirstName and LastName labels so that the first name is mandatory for the user (but on the API, the user is filling the last name), but that seems to be a bad workaround to me.

What would be the best practice to import contacts that do not have the last name? Put something generic on the field?

contact required-field data-import

share|improve this question

asked 8 hours ago

Renato OliveiraRenato Oliveira

5,52422158

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  I have seen elsewhere people use LNU which represents Last Name Unknown. Salesforce doesn't have any plan to remove this validation from last name.
  
  – Jayant Das
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  That sounds reasonable enough, actually. 🤔 UND ("Último Nome Desconhecido", in Portuguese) sounds good.
  
  – Renato Oliveira
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Please answer the question! I'll happily accept that as the answer.
  
  – Renato Oliveira
  8 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

The reason for this question is that I have a spreadsheet with lots of contacts to import, but some of them only have the first name. The LastName, being mandatory, will make my job harder.

I have seen people switching the FirstName and LastName labels so that the first name is mandatory for the user (but on the API, the user is filling the last name), but that seems to be a bad workaround to me.

What would be the best practice to import contacts that do not have the last name? Put something generic on the field?

contact required-field data-import

share|improve this question

asked 8 hours ago

Renato OliveiraRenato Oliveira

5,52422158

share|improve this question

asked 8 hours ago

Renato OliveiraRenato Oliveira

5,52422158

share|improve this question

asked 8 hours ago

Renato OliveiraRenato Oliveira

5,52422158

asked 8 hours ago

Renato OliveiraRenato Oliveira

5,52422158

asked 8 hours ago

Renato OliveiraRenato Oliveira

5,52422158

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

5

As for the LastName being mandatory, I can only say that it's by design. And seems there were ideas to get it optional, but Salesforce doesn't have any plan to do so. So it is very unlikely we can get away with it.

As for the workaround, as you have noted you can either switch the FirstName to the LastName

OR

I have seen people using a notion LNU which represents Last Name Unknown (or UND Último Nome Desconhecido in Portuguese :) ) to populate the LastName field. I have also seen this used widely with some Organizations when people don't have a valid Last Name.

One other approach that I have seen around especially with Government Authorities where Last Name is always required, they use the approach of populating the First Name as Last Name and then using FNU for the First Name which represents First Name Unknown. (I have had a personal experience with this)

So as long as you have a way to identify such records, you can go with any of these approaches.

share|improve this answer

edited 7 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

Jayant DasJayant Das

21.8k21433

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Brilliant workaround, reminds me of a former colleague in previous company having name as firstname.lnu@company.com
  
  – Raul
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Raul I have also seen another approach on this especially with government authorities where say Last Name is always required and that a person doesn't have one but only First Name, they will use the First Name as Last Name and then have the First Name referred as FNU (First Name Unknown).
  
  – Jayant Das
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

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5

As for the LastName being mandatory, I can only say that it's by design. And seems there were ideas to get it optional, but Salesforce doesn't have any plan to do so. So it is very unlikely we can get away with it.

As for the workaround, as you have noted you can either switch the FirstName to the LastName

OR

I have seen people using a notion LNU which represents Last Name Unknown (or UND Último Nome Desconhecido in Portuguese :) ) to populate the LastName field. I have also seen this used widely with some Organizations when people don't have a valid Last Name.

One other approach that I have seen around especially with Government Authorities where Last Name is always required, they use the approach of populating the First Name as Last Name and then using FNU for the First Name which represents First Name Unknown. (I have had a personal experience with this)

So as long as you have a way to identify such records, you can go with any of these approaches.

share|improve this answer

edited 7 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

Jayant DasJayant Das

21.8k21433

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Brilliant workaround, reminds me of a former colleague in previous company having name as firstname.lnu@company.com
  
  – Raul
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Raul I have also seen another approach on this especially with government authorities where say Last Name is always required and that a person doesn't have one but only First Name, they will use the First Name as Last Name and then have the First Name referred as FNU (First Name Unknown).
  
  – Jayant Das
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

5

As for the LastName being mandatory, I can only say that it's by design. And seems there were ideas to get it optional, but Salesforce doesn't have any plan to do so. So it is very unlikely we can get away with it.

As for the workaround, as you have noted you can either switch the FirstName to the LastName

OR

I have seen people using a notion LNU which represents Last Name Unknown (or UND Último Nome Desconhecido in Portuguese :) ) to populate the LastName field. I have also seen this used widely with some Organizations when people don't have a valid Last Name.

One other approach that I have seen around especially with Government Authorities where Last Name is always required, they use the approach of populating the First Name as Last Name and then using FNU for the First Name which represents First Name Unknown. (I have had a personal experience with this)

So as long as you have a way to identify such records, you can go with any of these approaches.

share|improve this answer

edited 7 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

Jayant DasJayant Das

21.8k21433

• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Brilliant workaround, reminds me of a former colleague in previous company having name as firstname.lnu@company.com
  
  – Raul
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Raul I have also seen another approach on this especially with government authorities where say Last Name is always required and that a person doesn't have one but only First Name, they will use the First Name as Last Name and then have the First Name referred as FNU (First Name Unknown).
  
  – Jayant Das
  7 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

As for the LastName being mandatory, I can only say that it's by design. And seems there were ideas to get it optional, but Salesforce doesn't have any plan to do so. So it is very unlikely we can get away with it.

As for the workaround, as you have noted you can either switch the FirstName to the LastName

OR

I have seen people using a notion LNU which represents Last Name Unknown (or UND Último Nome Desconhecido in Portuguese :) ) to populate the LastName field. I have also seen this used widely with some Organizations when people don't have a valid Last Name.

One other approach that I have seen around especially with Government Authorities where Last Name is always required, they use the approach of populating the First Name as Last Name and then using FNU for the First Name which represents First Name Unknown. (I have had a personal experience with this)

So as long as you have a way to identify such records, you can go with any of these approaches.

share|improve this answer

edited 7 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

Jayant DasJayant Das

21.8k21433

share|improve this answer

edited 7 hours ago

answered 8 hours ago

Jayant DasJayant Das

21.8k21433

answered 8 hours ago

Jayant DasJayant Das

21.8k21433

answered 8 hours ago

Jayant DasJayant Das

21.8k21433