Every record in Salesforce has an Id field and, with a few exceptions, a Name field or DeveloperName field for Custom Metadata Type objects. The Id field is unique, but is not human readable, meaning it cannot be entered or, for most of us on this planet, easily remembered!

The Standard and Custom Objects default value for the Name field is to provide a means for the user to enter their own textual description for the record, such as the race name or the driver name. The Name field is not enforced as being unique. Being the primary means by which the user identifies records, this can be a problem, and is something that the end user needs to avoid. This aspect of the platform can be particularly problematic with accounts and contacts, hence, AppExchange has a number of so-called "deduplication" applications you can try.

Carefully considering how you want your users to identify records can avoid additional work for them that might detract from their enjoyment of your application. The following sections provide information on ways in which you can help avoid duplicate records.