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Comment by codetrotter | Hacker News Reader

> Please fill out the 'Last Name' field (ensure it contains a least 2 characters (and does not contain any unusual special character)).

Please allow a wide range of Unicode characters. I am not able to sign up, because the site does not allow me to type my last name, it seems.

The letter “ø” is not an unusual special character..

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Requisite pointer to "Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1438472 from 12 years ago; use HN search if you want to see the more recent threads).

If you've ever seen "FNU" as an Uber driver's name, that's a consequence of the _US gov't_ enforcing rules like this; it stands for "First Name Unknown".

Also, just because it's a pet peeve - Last and/or Family names are not universal. Plenty of people with only one name.

Friendly reminder that if op decides to allow more special characters in the name fields, they should check it does not open a stored XSS vulnerability. (Names are displayed to all site viewers on the predictions page.)

Normally, that's a good idea. But based on OP's description this is a prototype or exersice in building /delivering an mvp. I don't feel that full unicode support is usually part of an mvp.

I agree, but I also think it's a shame, because we should have libraries that make Unicode easy at this point.

What is that, some kinda crazy-8 or what?

“Ø is a letter used in the Danish, Norwegian, Faroese, and Southern Sámi languages. It is mostly used as a representation of mid front rounded vowels.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98

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