Q. If an index subentry starts with a full name, do you alphabetize by last name or first? Here is an example: “. . . Menachem Begin visit to (1948), 67–69; Biltmore Conference in (1942), 27, 220n44; . . .” I was told to move the Begin entry to come before the Biltmore Conference entry. It was originally alphabetized under “M.” But it seems like a weird choice.
A. It may seem odd in any one entry, but when a full name appears in an index entry without being inverted—as in a subentry like yours that’s been run in to the main entry (with the help of semicolons rather than new lines and indents)—it’s still usually alphabetized by last name. Alphabetic order isn’t all that important in subentries (which are typically limited to a small block of text), but some readers will appreciate that the logic for names, inverted and not, is consistent across the index.