For a business with four surnames, how many cross references are needed?

• A. 0
• B. 1
• C. 2
• D. 3

Answer: (D)

When multiple surname variants exist for a single business, you connect them so a search for any form leads to the same record. Each cross reference adds one link between two forms. To make all four variants connected in a usable way, you need at least three cross references. A practical approach is to pick one surname as the main entry and create a cross reference from each of the other three variants to it. That uses three cross references and ensures every variant points to the same entity. Fewer than three would leave at least one variant not linked, making retrieval inconsistent, while more than three would be redundant for basic navigation.