If a patient wishes to be addressed by something other than their legal first name, you can add a preferred first name to their file. The preferred first name will show up on their details page, on appointments, and when searching for them. It will also show up in any outgoing communications that might be addressing the patient by their name, so long as the template is using the preferred name placeholder (more on that below).

Select the patient you're looking for, and edit their details. You'll see a field for Preferred first name:

If you add a name to this field and save, the preferred first name will now be shown as the "main" name on the patient's details page:

The preferred first name will also show up on any appointments this patient has:

The preferred name will show up anywhere that there might be communication with the patient—for example, letters or invoice emails that use the preferred name placeholder. The patient's legal first name will show up on "official" documents (such as invoices and treatment notes).

If you're using placeholders in any of your communication templates, you'll see that you have the option to include Patient.PreferredFullName or Patient.PreferredFirstName:

If a patient has a preferred first name and you use either of these placeholders, the preferred first name will show up in place of the legal first name.

If you use these placeholders and the patient does not have a preferred first name, not to worry—the legal first name will show up!