diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V21__add_person_name_aliases.sql b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V21__add_person_name_aliases.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1c7e706e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V21__add_person_name_aliases.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+-- Enable pg_trgm for substring search via GIN indexes
+CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_trgm;
+
+-- Historical name aliases for persons (marriage, widowhood, etc.)
+CREATE TABLE person_name_aliases (
+    id          UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
+    person_id   UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES persons(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
+    last_name   VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
+    first_name  VARCHAR(255),
+    type        VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
+    sort_order  INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+    created_at  TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT now()
+);
+
+-- Indexes on alias table
+CREATE INDEX idx_aliases_person_id ON person_name_aliases(person_id);
+CREATE INDEX idx_aliases_last_name_trgm ON person_name_aliases USING GIN (lower(last_name) gin_trgm_ops);
+
+-- Retroactive GIN trigram indexes on existing persons table for substring search
+CREATE INDEX idx_persons_first_name_trgm ON persons USING GIN (lower(first_name) gin_trgm_ops);
+CREATE INDEX idx_persons_last_name_trgm ON persons USING GIN (lower(last_name) gin_trgm_ops);
+CREATE INDEX idx_persons_alias_trgm ON persons USING GIN (lower(alias) gin_trgm_ops);