Skip to main content
When you collect a customer’s name — from a signup form, a checkout, or a CSV import — the data is rarely clean. People type “john,” “JON,” or “null smith”. Maestra automatically cleans up customer names — so you never send “Hey, null!” to a customer.

​
What characters are allowed

By default, name fields accept:
If a value contains characters outside this set (numbers, emojis, symbols) or characters not included in the alphabet used in your project, the field stays empty rather than saving bad data.
Each field has a 100-character limit.
To learn more about validation rules, see [Field Validation Rules for Customer Data].

​
Two ways to send a name

​
Option 1 — Send the parts separately

Pass FirstName and LastName as individual fields. Maestra stores exactly what you send, with no parsing. 
{
  "firstName": "Sarah",
  "lastName": "Thompson"
}
Use this when your form already splits the name into separate inputs. It’s the most reliable option.

​
Option 2 — Send a single full-name string

Pass the whole name in one FullName field. Maestra splits it into first and last automatically by checking the first word against its name dictionary. 
{
  "fullName": "Sarah Thompson"
}
Use this when your source system only stores one combined name field.
If a name is sent in lowercase, the first letter is automatically capitalized.
If a name in the FullName field isn’t recognized as a standard name, it won’t be split — the entire value will be written to FirstName (e.g., “Jaxon Miller” → FirstName = “Jaxon Miller”, LastName = empty).

​
Standard vs. non-standard names

Maestra keeps a dictionary of common names (rare, uncommon, or specific names and nicknames may not be included). When a name matches the dictionary, it’s marked as standard. This matters when you pick a personalization variable in a template:
  • Recipient.FirstName — uses whatever is on file, standard or not. Best for maximum reach.
  • Recipient.OnlyStandardFirstName — only fills in if the name is standard. Best when you’d rather show a generic greeting than risk sending “Hi null” to subscribers with junk data.
When using built-in personalization variables, the new builder automatically checks if the name is standard.