NameAPI is a web API
to handle people's names
in your software.

News

26.02.2026

Enhanced NameAPI Database

We are excited to announce a major update to the NameAPI database, reflecting the extensive...


11.02.2026

Software Version 11.2.0 Deployed

NameMatcher: More resilient matching for real-world names

Previously, if an input could not be...


05.01.2026

2025 Around the World

2025 marked another remarkable year for Optimaize, characterized by significant progress in our...


15.12.2025

Detecting What Isn’t a Name: Salutations in International Data

Salutations often appear in name fields, even though they are not part of the actual name....


25.11.2025

Dictionary Update: Danish Names

NameAPI has expanded its Nordic coverage with 2,600 given names and 8,600 family names, capturing...


About Us

About Optimaize GmbH (ltd)

Optimaize, with its headquarters in Wangen-Zürich (Switzerland) and branch office in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), manages the global leading name database and develops software around persons' names. Optimaize operates a public portal on www.namepedia.org, and commercial offerings on www.nameapi.org. NameAPI serves international customers including software companies, financial institutions, direct marketers, and media companies.

Name Data

All parts of personal names are collected, including given names and surnames from all languages and cultures. These are linked with additional information, including gender, language and frequency. Original spellings in non-Latin scripts (including transcriptions and transliterations) are also recorded.

The used sources are phone books, national government publications, websites on the subject, and local freelancers. NamePedia spiders online news sources from 55 countries and extracts named entities focusing on people's names.

Software

On the basis of the name data, Optimaize develops the following software modules:

Name Genderizer:

Identifies the gender of a person's name

Name Parser:

Identifies and orders the parts of names

Email Name Parser:

Extracts names out of email addresses

Name Matcher:

Compares names and computes similarity (duplicates)

Name Extractor:

Extracts names out of plain text

Name Profiler:

Enhances name records with additional attributes

Name Validator:

Checks correctness (spell-checking, gender, name order)

Fake Name Detector:

Identifies potentially invalid records

Name Formatter:

Formats names in correct upper/lower case

Name Variant Generator:

Suggests variants and variant spellings for names

 

Services

Optimaize offers programming services for customizing and extending its software to meet the unique needs of clients.