Abstract: A method, system and computer program product for transformation, normalization and correlation techniques that are effective for matching names of foreign origin that may be spelt in any number of ways. It addresses the problem of matching names that may belong to the same person but may be spelt differently. The main technique is to convert both strings to be matched into a representation of their original language, i.e., transform them into idealized (normalized) versions of themselves based on their true spelling in their original, native language. This process of idealization can be done either by employing a dictionary of standard, idealized names, or by implementing the idealization in real time by following a finite-state algorithm to convert the strings into their true representation in their original language.