Household name is incorrect on LDS tools app, correct on lds.org?

Hey there. I'm the membership clerk in our ward and have been asked to find out why a member's household name is shown as a previous household name even though the household has been made it's own household some time ago. It appears correctly on the lds.org site and in MLS. Multiple people are seeing the same thing. Any help would be appreciated.

First, let's check the clerk's side:

In MLS on the individual record, there are 4 fields: Full Name, Preferred Name and Maiden name
On the household record there is: Household name

Make sure all 4 fields are correct. "Full name" should match the person's current legal name. The other fields should be obvious.


Now, on the user's side:

Silly question: have they done a sync?

Is the problem confined to a specific OS? Since you've posted in the iPhone/iPad section, what do Android users see?

If I had to take a wild guess, LDS Tools might be using the Head of Household's last name instead of the Household name field. At least, that's what I'd be on the lookout for.

Thanks for the reply.

I am currently unable to check MLS data, but will do so this evening.

On the user side, it was reported as incorrect on an iOS device. I have confirmed that it shows incorrectly on both iOS and Android in LDS Tools, both with a new install and after a sync.

on lds.org, if I look at the membership records, there is no mention of the household name that shows up in LDS Tools, both in the individual and household tabs. If I edit the individual, the "Family Name" and "Individual name(s)" fields are correct, mirrored by the preferred names, with the suffix blank.

Note that the incorrect name is the name of another household at the same address (the incorrect one is a basement apartment). This appears to be the only connection between them, though it's possible that they were all listed as the same household in the past, due to the address. They are not directly related, no close family ties, so I don't think that should be the case, but I can't verify it -- it all looks correct.

Seems like a bug of some sort to me, but I was hoping that was not the case. Thanks again for any help.

The same fields should in in LCR. If the name you are seeing is not found in any of the fields of the individual record, nor the household record, it certainly seems to be a bug. Since it affects both iOS and Android, it's probably with the API.

russellhltn wrote:The same fields should in in LCR. If the name you are seeing is not found in any of the fields of the individual record, nor the household record, it certainly seems to be a bug. Since it affects both iOS and Android, it's probably with the API.

I'm not sure if the household name does show up in LCR yet or not. I wouldn't assume it's a bug until checking the household name in MLS.

If it was the household name, I'd expect it to be wrong on the Directory as well.

While it's worth checking, I doubt if that's the culprit.

eblood66 wrote:I'm not sure if the household name does show up in LCR yet or not.

The household name does not yet show up for editing in LCR.

The household record in MLS did indeed have the incorrect name associated with it. This name is not shown on lds.org on any page that I could find, even when attempting to split a household.

In order to change it, there was no edit button either -- I needed to click on the household, then the hyperlinked incorrect name of the household to view the household record. From there I could edit the household name to be the correct name.

Shortly after I did a send/receive in MLS, I did a sync in LDS tools and the proper name was shown.

Thanks everyone for the help!

OK, then I wonder why the wrong name didn't show up in the Directory as well. Interesting.

I just ran into this exact problem with a family, so whatever is causing it is still not fixed.

dedavison wrote:I just ran into this exact problem with a family, so whatever is causing it is still not fixed.

The root cause is incorrect information on the household record. How it gets that way is still a question. It's possible that there's a fault in the system that makes that an easy mistake, but it could be an error on the part of a clerk. I'm sure by default, the household will keep it's old name when a new member is added to the household (such as when someone gets married or when combining records into a household.)

You can fix the household name in LCR, by finding an individual in the household, clicking on the "household" tab, and then clicking on the "Edit Household Name" button. Alternatively it can be done in MLS.