How to sort Arabic lists alphabetically and remove duplicate names
This tool works line by line. Paste a list with one item per line, such as names, products or keywords, then remove repeats, sort it, or keep only the lines that contain a given word. It helps when you are tidying an attendance sheet, a class list or a staff list before pasting it into a spreadsheet.
Sorting follows the browser's Arabic collation rather than raw character codes. Names that start with ا, أ and إ end up together under alef, and “الدرس 2” comes before “الدرس 10”. The result updates as soon as you change an option, and your original stays untouched in its own box.
How to use it
- Paste your list into Original lines, one name per line.
- To remove duplicate names, set Line duplicates to Keep first. Also tick Ignore edge whitespace for matching, so a stray space at the end of a line cannot hide a repeat.
- To sort alphabetically, set Order to Natural ascending, or Natural descending for the reverse.
- Tick Remove blank lines if the list came from a document with gaps between lines.
- To put a number in front of each line, tick Number output lines and change Start number or Number width if you need to.
- Check the status line under the result: lines before, lines after and how many were removed. Open Removal report (first 500) to see what went and why, then copy the result or download it as .txt.
Worked examples from the tool
يوسف إبراهيم أحمد سارة ابتسام أحمد سارة آمنة زينب
آمنة ابتسام إبراهيم أحمد زينب سارة يوسف
Settings: Line duplicates: Keep first · Ignore edge whitespace for matching · Order: Natural ascending
الدرس 10 الدرس 2 الدرس 1 الدرس 21 الدرس 3
الدرس 1 الدرس 2 الدرس 3 الدرس 10 الدرس 21
Settings: Order: Natural ascending
سارة العلي - الكويت خالد يوسف - الرياض مريم حسن - الكويت نورة سالم - دبي فهد ناصر - الكويت
1. سارة العلي - الكويت 2. مريم حسن - الكويت 3. فهد ناصر - الكويت
Settings: Literal filter: Keep containing · Filter text: الكويت · Number output lines
Arabic order, not character-code order
Many simple tools sort by each character's Unicode number. In that order أ comes before إ, and both come before ا, so names beginning with alef split into three separate groups: أحمد, then إبراهيم, then ابتسام. The browser's Arabic collation treats those forms as one letter at first and compares what follows: ابتسام (ب then ت) before إبراهيم (ب then ر) before أحمد (ح). In the names example, آمنة comes first because the collation places alef with madda ahead of the other alef forms.
Natural order also reads digits as numbers, so 2 sorts before 10 and 21. The exact order comes from your browser's collation data and can differ slightly between browsers in rare cases.
Why duplicates slip through
- Hamza and taa marbuta: أحمد and احمد are two different lines to the tool, and so are فاطمة and فاطمه. Matching is exact. If several people typed the list, normalise a copy first under Normalize letters for search in the Cleaner, as the guide to normalising Arabic for search explains, and then remove duplicates.
- Diacritics: عُمر and عمر also count as different. Strip the marks before comparing if they are not meant to be there.
- Ignore case for matching: this only affects Latin letters. Arabic has no upper and lower case.
- Picking the wrong rule: Only unique removes every copy of a repeated name, including the first. Choose Keep first when you want a list without repeats.
Other options worth knowing
Keep containing and Remove containing filter lines by whatever you type in Filter text, such as a city or a department. Seeded shuffle puts the list in random order, and the same seed always gives the same order, so a draw can be repeated and checked. Prefix and Suffix add fixed text to the start or end of every line, for example a dash before each item.
Operations always run in the same order: filter, line duplicates, word duplicates, sort, wrap, then numbering, prefix and suffix. That is why numbering always applies to the final, sorted list. If the names also need stray marks or spaces cleaned first, the Arabic cleanup guide walks through it.
Limits
- Matching is exact. The tool cannot tell that أحمد and احمد are the same name, and it does not detect names that merely sound alike.
- Each line is one item. A list written on a single line with commas is not split for you.
- Sorting uses your browser's Arabic collation data, so the order can differ slightly between browsers.
- Hard wrap cuts a line after a set number of characters and can split words. Output is capped at 100,000 text units, roughly 100,000 characters including spaces and diacritics.
Frequently asked questions
How do I sort Arabic names alphabetically?
Paste the names one per line and set Order to Natural ascending. All alef forms are grouped together and numbers sort by value.
Why were some duplicate names not removed?
The two lines usually differ in something you cannot easily see: a hamza, a taa marbuta written as haa, a diacritic or a trailing space. Tick Ignore edge whitespace for matching, and normalise the letters in a copy of the list if needed.
Can I see which lines were removed?
Yes. Removal report (first 500) shows the original line number and the reason for each removal, and Download removals CSV saves it as a file.
What is the difference between Keep first and Only unique?
I need to compare two lists, not tidy one. Which tool should I use?
Use Lists to find the names that appear in both lists or are missing from one of them.