SQL Server永久分隔名字，姓氏和中间名首字母

Question

I have a table that has first name, last name, and middle initial, when there is one, in one column like this:

Name
Doe, John B
Smith, Bob

Some names do not have a middle initial and I just want to get rid of the ones that do. So far I have this query:

SELECT   [table].[Name]
    ,LEFT([table].[Name], CHARINDEX(',', [table].[Name]) - 1) AS [Surname]
    ,REPLACE(SUBSTRING([table].[Name], CHARINDEX(',', [table].[Name]), LEN([table].[Name])), ',', '') AS [FirstName]
FROM    [table]

Which gives me this result:

Surname  First Name
Doe      John B
Smith    Bob

Is there something that I can add to just get rid of the middle initial when it occurs? Also, can I permanently change this data so it remains in two separate columns?

Answer 1

Assuming the format is strictly Last, First <Optional initial> for first without initial:

SUBSTRING([table].[Name], CHARINDEX(',', [table].[Name]) + 2, 
    LEN([table].[Name]) - CHARINDEX(',', [table].[Name]) 
    - CASE WHEN PATINDEX('% [A-Z]', [table].[Name]) > 0 THEN 3 ELSE 0 END)

If you want to permanently change it, create a query with what you want and overwrite the values.

Answer 2

Query:

WITH CTE AS (SELECT Name, LEFT(Name,CHARINDEX(',',RIGHT(Name,LEN(Name)-CHARINDEX(',',Name)))+CHARINDEX(',',Name)-1) AS [Last] FROM table)
SELECT [Last], LEFT(REPLACE(Name,Last+', ',''),CHARINDEX(' ',REPLACE(Name,Last+', ',''))-1) AS [First],
       RIGHT(REPLACE(Name,Last+', ',''),LEN(REPLACE(Name,Last+', ',''))-CHARINDEX(' ',REPLACE(Name,Last+', ',''))) AS Middle
FROM CTE

This uses a CTE for clarity and it also accounts for many special cases including names with suffixes (Jr, Sr, Esq, etc).