> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.honestly.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How do I change an attribute value without losing comparability? > Change an attribute value, such as a surname after marriage, without splitting the survey history across two values — and what to do if that has already happened. [Go to Employees ↗](https://webapp.honestly.de/app#/employees) · Opens the webapp — please log in first When a value stored for a person changes — a surname after marriage, say, or the name of a job title — the order of steps matters. Rename the value in Honestly first and only then change it in your HR system or import file, and all earlier results stay comparable under the new value. Do it the other way round and you end up with two separate values. > [!NOTE] > > Renaming values in **Attribute Management** requires the **Admin** role. ### How it works: responses remember the option, not the text An **Attribute** (such as **Department**, or a **Name** attribute sent by Personio) holds a list of **Options** (such as *Sales* or *Miller*). Every survey response remembers which option the person had when they took part. Dashboard filters work on exactly that assignment. Two things follow from this: * **Renaming changes the text, not the option.** If you rename *Miller* to *Smith*, it is still the same option. All earlier responses immediately appear under *Smith*. * **Imports find options by their text.** Excel import, Personio, Kombo, CSV import via SFTP and the REST API all match each value by its name (upper and lower case, and spaces at the start or end, make no difference). If no option with that name exists yet, the import creates a new one. Old responses stay with the old option, new ones go to the new option. ### The right order Take a name change after marriage: an employee has been called *Miller* and will now be called *Smith*, and her name is sent to Honestly as a **Name** attribute. First name and last name in the employee profile itself are not attributes and do not appear as dashboard filters. The name only matters here if it also arrives as an attribute. 1. Go to **Employees** and open the **Attribute Management** tab. 2. Find the attribute, such as **Name**, and click **Edit**. 3. Click the **pencil icon** next to the option *Miller*, enter *Smith* as the **option name** and save. 4. Only now change the name in Personio, your HR system or your Excel file. On the next import, Honestly finds the option *Smith* already in place and creates no second one. All responses, old and new, sit under a single value. If you use an automatic sync (such as Personio), rename the value in Honestly before the change arrives with the next sync run. Personio syncs every 12 hours. For the **Attribute Management** steps with screenshots, see [How can I rename attributes, and what are my options?](https://help.honestly.com/help/employees/rename-attributes.md) > [!NOTE] > > In a person's profile (**Edit employee profile**) you can only choose options that already exist. You cannot type in a new name there — another reason why renaming in **Attribute Management** is the right way. ### Rename or reassign? A rename applies to everyone the option is assigned to, and retroactively to every survey. So it only fits when the **label** changes while the thing itself stays the same: * A name changes after marriage. * A job title is renamed for everyone who holds it, for example *Clerk* to *Specialist*. * A location gets a new name. * A value contains a typo. If a person **actually** moves to a different position, team or location, do not rename anything. Change the value only in your HR system or import file. Their earlier responses then rightly belong to the old option, and their new ones to the new option. ### If the order was already wrong If the new value arrived through an import first, you now have two options — for example *Miller* with the older responses and *Smith* with the newer ones. **Attribute Management** cannot merge them: if you rename *Miller* to *Smith*, you see "An option with this name already exists. Please choose a different name." Do not delete the old option. Deleting removes it from all earlier responses, and it is no longer available as a dashboard filter. You have two ways forward: * **Evaluate both values.** The old option stays in the dashboard filter for the surveys whose responses carry it. Filter by each option in turn and compare the results. To make clear what the old option stands for, you can rename it, for example to *Smith (until 10/2026)*. * **Correct it with backdating.** An Excel import with backdating writes the current values onto every response from a reference date onwards. If you choose a date before the first affected survey, the older responses then sit under *Smith*. > [!WARNING] > > Backdating does not just affect this one person and this one attribute. It writes the data from your import file for **all employees** and **all attributes** onto every response from the reference date onwards — including reporting lines and who can see which responses. Genuine changes during that period, such as a team move or a new manager, are lost. Backdating cannot be undone automatically. Only use backdating if nothing has genuinely changed since the reference date that you need to keep. For how it works, see [How do I backdate employee data?](https://help.honestly.com/help/employees/backdate-data.md) ### Related articles * [How can I rename attributes, and what are my options?](https://help.honestly.com/help/employees/rename-attributes.md) * [How do I backdate employee data?](https://help.honestly.com/help/employees/backdate-data.md) * [What are attributes and how are they used?](https://help.honestly.com/help/employees/attributes.md) * [Integrating Personio Employee Upload into Honestly](https://help.honestly.com/help/integrations/personio-employee-upload.md) * [How do I import or update my employees via Excel?](https://help.honestly.com/help/employees/import-via-excel.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.