SGHI FHIR Profile Implementation Guide
0.1.0 - ci-build

SGHI FHIR Profile Implementation Guide, published by Kathurima Kimathi. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 0.1.0 built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/savannahghi/sil_fhir_profile_ig/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

## Data Type Profile: SGHIHumanName - Detailed Descriptions

Draft as of 2026-04-27

Definitions for the human-name data type profile.

- Key Elements Table
- Differential Elements Table
- Snapshot Elements Table

Guidance on how to interpret the contents of this table can be foundhere

0. HumanName
Definition | A name, normally of a human, that can be used for other living entities (e.g. animals but not organizations) that have been assigned names by a human and may need the use of name parts or the need for usage information.
Short | Name of a human or other living entity - parts and usage
Comments | Names may be changed, or repudiated, or people may have different names in different contexts. Names may be divided into parts of different type that have variable significance depending on context, though the division into parts does not always matter. With personal names, the different parts might or might not be imbued with some implicit meaning; various cultures associate different importance with the name parts and the degree to which systems must care about name parts around the world varies widely.
Control | 0..*
Is Modifier | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
2. HumanName.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for this name.
Short | usual | official | temp | nickname | anonymous | old | maiden
Comments | Applications can assume that a name is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 10..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from NameUse http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/name-use|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/name-use|5.0.0` ) The use of a human name.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old name etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows the appropriate name for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of names.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
4. HumanName.text
Definition | Specifies the entire name as it should be displayed e.g. on an application UI. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts.
Short | Text representation of the full name
Comments | Can provide both a text representation and parts. Applications updating a name SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part.
Control | 10..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | A renderable, unencoded form.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
6. HumanName.family
Definition | The part of a name that links to the genealogy. In some cultures (e.g. Eritrea) the family name of a son is the first name of his father.
Short | Family name (often called 'Surname')
Comments | Family Name may be decomposed into specific parts using extensions (de, nl, es related cultures).
Control | 10..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | surname
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
8. HumanName.given
Definition | Given name.
Short | Given names (not always 'first'). Includes middle names
Comments | If only initials are recorded, they may be used in place of the full name parts. Initials may be separated into multiple given names but often aren't due to paractical limitations. This element is not called "first name" since given names do not always come first.
Control | 10..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | first name, middle name
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))

Guidance on how to interpret the contents of this table can be foundhere

0. HumanName
2. HumanName.use
Control | 1..?
4. HumanName.text
Control | 1..?
6. HumanName.family
Control | 1..?
8. HumanName.given
Control | 1..?

Guidance on how to interpret the contents of this table can be foundhere

0. HumanName
Definition | A name, normally of a human, that can be used for other living entities (e.g. animals but not organizations) that have been assigned names by a human and may need the use of name parts or the need for usage information.
Short | Name of a human or other living entity - parts and usage
Comments | Names may be changed, or repudiated, or people may have different names in different contexts. Names may be divided into parts of different type that have variable significance depending on context, though the division into parts does not always matter. With personal names, the different parts might or might not be imbued with some implicit meaning; various cultures associate different importance with the name parts and the degree to which systems must care about name parts around the world varies widely.
Control | 0..*
Is Modifier | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
2. HumanName.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | id
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
4. HumanName.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `HumanName.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
6. HumanName.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for this name.
Short | usual | official | temp | nickname | anonymous | old | maiden
Comments | Applications can assume that a name is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 1..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from NameUse (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/name-use|5.0.0` ) The use of a human name.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old name etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows the appropriate name for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of names.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
8. HumanName.text
Definition | Specifies the entire name as it should be displayed e.g. on an application UI. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts.
Short | Text representation of the full name
Comments | Can provide both a text representation and parts. Applications updating a name SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part.
Control | 1..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | A renderable, unencoded form.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
10. HumanName.family
Definition | The part of a name that links to the genealogy. In some cultures (e.g. Eritrea) the family name of a son is the first name of his father.
Short | Family name (often called 'Surname')
Comments | Family Name may be decomposed into specific parts using extensions (de, nl, es related cultures).
Control | 1..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | surname
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
12. HumanName.given
Definition | Given name.
Short | Given names (not always 'first'). Includes middle names
Comments | If only initials are recorded, they may be used in place of the full name parts. Initials may be separated into multiple given names but often aren't due to paractical limitations. This element is not called "first name" since given names do not always come first.
Control | 1..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | first name, middle name
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
14. HumanName.prefix
Definition | Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the start of the name.
Short | Parts that come before the name
Control | 0..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
16. HumanName.suffix
Definition | Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the end of the name.
Short | Parts that come after the name
Control | 0..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
18. HumanName.period
Definition | Indicates the period of time when this name was valid for the named person.
Short | Time period when name was/is in use
Control | 0..1
Type | Period
Is Modifier | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows names to be placed in historical context.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)