Split New Features and Bug Fixes into more granular groups

Break "New Features" into New name fields, New customization options,
and International name support, and "Bug Fixes" into Parsing fixes,
Formatting and output fixes, and API correctness and cleanup, so
related entries are easier to scan in this large release.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: derek73

docs/release_log.rst

@@ -24,25 +24,51 @@ Release Log
     - Fix parsing writing back into the ``Constants`` it reads (usually the shared module-level ``CONSTANTS``): pieces derived while parsing a name — period-joined titles/suffixes like ``"Lt.Gov."`` and conjunction-joined pieces like ``"Mr. and Mrs."`` or ``"von und zu"`` — are now tracked per parse instead of being permanently ``add()``-ed to the config, so parse results no longer depend on which names were parsed earlier in the process and parsing no longer mutates shared state across threads
     - Fix ``__hash__`` to lowercase the name like ``__eq__`` does, so equal ``HumanName`` instances hash equal and behave correctly in sets and dicts
 
-    **New Features**
+    **New name fields**
 
     - Add ``matches()`` and ``comparison_key()`` for explicit name comparison: ``matches()`` compares parsed components case-insensitively (parsing ``str`` arguments first, so ``name.matches("Smith, John")`` and ``name.matches("John Smith")`` both match) and ``comparison_key()`` returns a hashable tuple of the seven components for dedup, dict keys, and sorting (#224)
-    - Add ``non_first_name_prefixes`` to ``Constants``: a leading particle that is never a first name (e.g. ``"de Mesnil"``, ``"dos Santos"``) now parses as a surname with an empty first name, instead of treating the particle as the first name (closes #121)
     - Add a first-class ``maiden`` field and ``maiden_delimiters`` to ``Constants``, so a delimiter (e.g. parenthesis) can be routed to ``maiden`` instead of ``nickname`` for alternate/maiden surnames, e.g. ``"Baker (Johnson), Jenny"`` (closes #22)
-    - Add ``suffix_acronyms_ambiguous`` to ``Constants`` for acronym suffixes that also read as given-name nicknames (e.g. ``"JD"``, ``"Ed"``), used when disambiguating parenthesized/quoted content (#111)
-    - Add ``nickname_delimiters`` to ``Constants`` for registering additional nickname-delimiter regex patterns at runtime, without subclassing (closes #110, #112)
     - Add ``given_names`` (and ``given_names_list``) attribute as aggregate of first and middle names, mirroring ``surnames`` (closes #157)
-    - Add ``suffix_delimiter`` to ``Constants`` and ``HumanName`` for parsing suffixes separated by arbitrary delimiters, e.g. ``"RN - CRNA"`` (#156)
-    - Add ``initials_separator`` to ``Constants`` and ``HumanName`` to control spacing between consecutive initials within a name group (#171)
     - Add ``last_base``, ``last_prefixes`` (and ``_list`` variants) for splitting last-name prefix particles (tussenvoegsels) from the core surname (#130, #132)
+
+    **New customization options**
+
+    - Add ``initials_separator`` to ``Constants`` and ``HumanName`` to control spacing between consecutive initials within a name group (#171)
+    - Add ``suffix_delimiter`` to ``Constants`` and ``HumanName`` for parsing suffixes separated by arbitrary delimiters, e.g. ``"RN - CRNA"`` (#156)
+    - Add ``nickname_delimiters`` to ``Constants`` for registering additional nickname-delimiter regex patterns at runtime, without subclassing (closes #110, #112)
+    - Add ``suffix_acronyms_ambiguous`` to ``Constants`` for acronym suffixes that also read as given-name nicknames (e.g. ``"JD"``, ``"Ed"``), used when disambiguating parenthesized/quoted content (#111)
+
+    **International name support**
+
     - Add ``patronymic_name_order`` flag to ``Constants`` and ``HumanName`` for opt-in detection and reordering of Russian formal-order names (Surname GivenName Patronymic) (#85)
     - Add Turkic (Azerbaijani/Central-Asian) patronymic detection to ``patronymic_name_order``, rotating the reversed 4-token formal shape (``Surname GivenName PatronymicRoot Marker``, e.g. ``oglu``/``qizi``) into Western order (#185)
     - Add ``middle_name_as_last`` flag to ``Constants`` and ``HumanName`` for opt-in folding of middle names into the last name, for naming systems with no middle-name concept (e.g. Arabic patronymic chaining) (#133)
+    - Add ``non_first_name_prefixes`` to ``Constants``: a leading particle that is never a first name (e.g. ``"de Mesnil"``, ``"dos Santos"``) now parses as a surname with an empty first name, instead of treating the particle as the first name (closes #121)
     - Add international honorifics to ``TITLES`` (#187)
     - Add German/Austrian nobility and ecclesiastical titles to ``TITLES`` (closes #101)
     - Add German/Dutch last-name prefixes and title/degree suffixes; fix ``join_on_conjunctions()`` to register multi-word prefix chains (e.g. ``"von und zu"``) as prefixes, mirroring existing title handling (closes #18)
 
-    **Bug Fixes**
+    **Parsing fixes**
+
+    - Fix suffix boundary lookup for prefixed last names with a title before and after (e.g. ``"dr Vincent van Gogh dr"`` producing a corrupted middle name) (closes #100)
+    - Fix a trailing suffix being silently dropped after an empty comma segment, e.g. ``"Doe, John,, Jr."`` losing the ``"Jr."``
+    - Fix degenerate comma input (a bare ``","`` or an empty comma segment, e.g. ``"Doe,, Jr."``, ``"John Doe, Jr.,,"``) leaving an empty-string member in ``first_list``, ``last_list``, or ``suffix_list``; whitespace-only tokens assigned via the setters are dropped the same way
+    - Fix suffix-shaped parenthesized/quoted content (e.g. ``"(Ret)"``, ``"(MBA)"``) being misclassified as a nickname instead of a suffix (closes #111)
+    - Fix single-character symbol conjunctions (e.g. ``"&"``, ``"/"``) being ignored in short names (#173)
+    - Fix recognition of single-letter roman numeral suffixes (e.g. ``"I"``, ``"V"``) in suffix-comma format (closes #136)
+    - Fix recognition of trailing ``suffix_not_acronyms`` (e.g. ``"Jr."``) in lastname-comma format (closes #144)
+    - Fix missing comma between ``'msc'`` and ``'mscmsm'`` in ``suffix_acronyms``, which silently concatenated them into a bogus ``'mscmscmsm'`` entry (#111)
+    - Fix ``'apn aprn'`` split into separate ``suffix_acronyms`` entries so each is recognized independently (closes #155)
+
+    **Formatting and output fixes**
+
+    - Fix ``IndexError`` in ``initials()``/``initials_list()`` when a ``*_list`` attribute was assigned directly with an element containing unnormalized whitespace (e.g. ``name.middle_list = ['Q  R']``), bypassing the parser's whitespace normalization (closes #232)
+    - Fix ``initials()`` emitting a stray empty initial (e.g. ``"J. . V."``) -- or raising ``TypeError`` when ``empty_attribute_default`` is ``None`` -- for name parts with no initialable words, e.g. a prefix-only middle name like ``"de la"``
+    - Fix capitalization of suffix acronyms written with dots, e.g. ``"M.D."`` (closes #141)
+    - Fix extra whitespace before punctuation in ``str()`` output when a ``string_format`` field is empty (closes #139)
+    - Fix spurious leading space in surnames and empty token in suffix list after ``capitalize()`` with an empty middle or suffix (#164)
+
+    **API correctness and cleanup**
 
     - Fix the five non-cached-union ``SetManager``-backed ``Constants`` attributes (``first_name_titles``, ``conjunctions``, ``bound_first_names``, ``non_first_name_prefixes``, ``suffix_acronyms_ambiguous``) accepting non-``SetManager`` assignment silently (e.g. ``constants.conjunctions = 'and'``), degrading membership checks into substring tests with no error; assignment now raises ``TypeError`` like the four cached-union attributes already did (closes #241)
     - Fix ``HumanName.C`` accepting an invalid ``constants`` value on post-construction assignment (e.g. ``hn.C = 'garbage'``), bypassing the constructor's validation and failing later with an unrelated ``AttributeError``; ``C`` is now a property that validates on assignment too (closes #239)
@@ -52,21 +78,7 @@ Release Log
     - Fix ``SetManager`` set operators and the constructor skipping the lowercase/strip-edge-periods normalization that ``add()`` applies: ``constants.titles |= ['Esq.']`` kept a raw ``'Esq.'`` the parser's lookups could never match, ``titles & ['Dr.']`` missed ``'dr'``, and ``Constants(titles=[...])`` stored raw elements that silently never matched; elements and operands are now normalized everywhere, and non-``str`` elements (``bytes``, ``None``, numbers) raise ``TypeError`` instead of crashing cryptically or being coerced
     - Fix the ``constants`` constructor argument silently discarding ``Constants`` *subclass* instances: the exact-type check replaced them with fresh defaults, throwing away the caller's configuration. Subclass instances are now used as given; anything that is neither ``None`` nor a ``Constants`` instance now raises ``TypeError`` instead of being silently swapped for defaults (closes #226)
     - Fix ``Constants`` customizations, singleton identity, and ``TupleManager`` subclass being lost across ``pickle``/``deepcopy`` round-trips (#167, #168, #169)
-    - Fix ``IndexError`` in ``initials()``/``initials_list()`` when a ``*_list`` attribute was assigned directly with an element containing unnormalized whitespace (e.g. ``name.middle_list = ['Q  R']``), bypassing the parser's whitespace normalization (closes #232)
-    - Fix ``initials()`` emitting a stray empty initial (e.g. ``"J. . V."``) -- or raising ``TypeError`` when ``empty_attribute_default`` is ``None`` -- for name parts with no initialable words, e.g. a prefix-only middle name like ``"de la"``
-    - Fix a trailing suffix being silently dropped after an empty comma segment, e.g. ``"Doe, John,, Jr."`` losing the ``"Jr."``
-    - Fix degenerate comma input (a bare ``","`` or an empty comma segment, e.g. ``"Doe,, Jr."``, ``"John Doe, Jr.,,"``) leaving an empty-string member in ``first_list``, ``last_list``, or ``suffix_list``; whitespace-only tokens assigned via the setters are dropped the same way
-    - Fix suffix-shaped parenthesized/quoted content (e.g. ``"(Ret)"``, ``"(MBA)"``) being misclassified as a nickname instead of a suffix (closes #111)
-    - Fix missing comma between ``'msc'`` and ``'mscmsm'`` in ``suffix_acronyms``, which silently concatenated them into a bogus ``'mscmscmsm'`` entry (#111)
     - Fix ``is_rootname()`` returning stale results after ``add()``/``remove()`` on ``titles``, ``prefixes``, ``suffix_acronyms``, or ``suffix_not_acronyms`` (#166)
-    - Fix capitalization of suffix acronyms written with dots, e.g. ``"M.D."`` (closes #141)
-    - Fix recognition of single-letter roman numeral suffixes (e.g. ``"I"``, ``"V"``) in suffix-comma format (closes #136)
-    - Fix recognition of trailing ``suffix_not_acronyms`` (e.g. ``"Jr."``) in lastname-comma format (closes #144)
-    - Fix single-character symbol conjunctions (e.g. ``"&"``, ``"/"``) being ignored in short names (#173)
-    - Fix suffix boundary lookup for prefixed last names with a title before and after (e.g. ``"dr Vincent van Gogh dr"`` producing a corrupted middle name) (closes #100)
-    - Fix spurious leading space in surnames and empty token in suffix list after ``capitalize()`` with an empty middle or suffix (#164)
-    - Fix extra whitespace before punctuation in ``str()`` output when a ``string_format`` field is empty (closes #139)
-    - Fix ``'apn aprn'`` split into separate ``suffix_acronyms`` entries so each is recognized independently (closes #155)
     - Change ``Constants.__repr__`` to report collection sizes and non-default scalar config, replacing the uninformative ``<Constants() instance>`` (#221)
 * 1.2.1 - June 19, 2026
     - Fix ``initials()`` interpolating the literal ``None`` for empty name parts when ``empty_attribute_default = None`` (e.g. ``"J. None D."``); empty parts now render as an empty string and a fully-empty result returns ``empty_attribute_default``