Overview of the N-FOCUS Soundex

Soundex is the phonetic algorithm used by N-FOCUS to encode last names by their sound when pronounced in English.  The basic aim is for names with the same pronunciation to be encoded as the same phonetic value so that matching can occur despite minor differences in spelling.

The Soundex code for a name as used by N-FOCUS consists of a letter followed by up to seven numbers: the letter is the first letter of the name, and the numbers encode the remaining consonants. Similar sounding consonants share the same number.  Vowels are coded only when they appear as the first letter of a name.

The exact algorithm is as follows:

• Retain the first letter of the name.
• Encode remaining letters as numbers in the following manner:
  •   1 is assigned to B, F, P, V
  •   2 is assigned to C, G, J, K, Q, S, X, Z
  •   3 is assigned to D, T
  •   4 is assigned to L
  •   5 is assigned to M, N
  •   6 is assigned to R
  •   Double letters are encoded as one number
  •   Values not encoded include:
    • A, E, I, O, U, Y, H, W
    • JR, SR, and I through VIII

Examples:

Name	Soundex Value
Bakename	B255
Buchanan	B255
Betty	B3
Booth	B3
Boyd	B3
Jansen	J525
Jensen	J525
Johnson	J525

 

(11-2010)