Abstract: A method of identifying personal names in an electronic file published on the WWW 2. The method comprises downloading the file to a computer 1, and parsing the file to divide it into individual words and identifying words or word sequences which represent candidate names. For each candidate name, the word or words making up that name are compared against a database of known false positive name entities. If the candidate name contains a known false positive name entity or entities, that name is flagged as an invalid personal name. If the candidate name does not contain a known false positive name entity or entities, the candidate name is either accepted as a personal name or further processed to check its validity.