This is usually accomplished by storing first and last names in separate fields in the first place. String handling is usually not performed within SQL queries, but you can use the INSTR() function to locate the first separator character and the SUBSTR() function to return what is before and after this location respectively and maybe the TRIM() function to remove extraneous whitespace. Also consider using LIKE 'meryl%' (assuming first names are stored first int he field) to locate names begining with 'meryl' in any combination of case (unless you have executed pragma case_sensitive_like, in which case you must provide the exact case your are looking for