diff --git a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParser.java b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParser.java
index d33cd75f..ed65346e 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParser.java
+++ b/backend/src/main/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParser.java
@@ -172,9 +172,26 @@ public class PersonNameParser {
         return input;
     }
 
-    /** Strips parenthesized annotations. Pass-through until #210. */
+    private static final Pattern PAREN_ANNOTATION = Pattern.compile("\\s*\\(([^)]*)\\)\\s*$");
+    private static final Pattern UNCERTAIN_NAME = Pattern.compile("^(\\S+)\\s+\\?\\s*$");
+
+    /** Strips trailing parenthesized annotations and extracts the content. */
     public static AnnotationResult stripAnnotation(String input) {
-        return new AnnotationResult(input, null);
+        Matcher m = PAREN_ANNOTATION.matcher(input);
+        if (!m.find()) {
+            return new AnnotationResult(input, null);
+        }
+        String cleaned = input.substring(0, m.start()).trim();
+        String rawAnnotation = m.group(1).trim();
+
+        Matcher uncertainMatcher = UNCERTAIN_NAME.matcher(rawAnnotation);
+        if (uncertainMatcher.matches()) {
+            String nameFromAnnotation = uncertainMatcher.group(1);
+            cleaned = (cleaned + " " + nameFromAnnotation).trim();
+            return new AnnotationResult(cleaned, "?");
+        }
+
+        return new AnnotationResult(cleaned, rawAnnotation);
     }
 
     /** Strips title prefixes. Pass-through until #212. */
diff --git a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParserTest.java b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParserTest.java
index 243d3a51..756b268b 100644
--- a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParserTest.java
+++ b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/service/PersonNameParserTest.java
@@ -281,12 +281,65 @@ class PersonNameParserTest {
     }
 
     @Test
-    void stripAnnotation_isPassthrough() {
+    void stripAnnotation_noParens_returnsNull() {
         PersonNameParser.AnnotationResult result = PersonNameParser.stripAnnotation("Walter de Gruyter");
         assertThat(result.cleaned()).isEqualTo("Walter de Gruyter");
         assertThat(result.annotation()).isNull();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void stripAnnotation_birthYear_noSpace() {
+        PersonNameParser.AnnotationResult result = PersonNameParser.stripAnnotation("Clara de Gruyter(*1871)");
+        assertThat(result.cleaned()).isEqualTo("Clara de Gruyter");
+        assertThat(result.annotation()).isEqualTo("*1871");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void stripAnnotation_uncertainty_withSpace() {
+        PersonNameParser.AnnotationResult result = PersonNameParser.stripAnnotation("Ernst Kurmany (?)");
+        assertThat(result.cleaned()).isEqualTo("Ernst Kurmany");
+        assertThat(result.annotation()).isEqualTo("?");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void stripAnnotation_nickname_noSpace() {
+        PersonNameParser.AnnotationResult result = PersonNameParser.stripAnnotation("Gertrud D.(Tuttu)");
+        assertThat(result.cleaned()).isEqualTo("Gertrud D.");
+        assertThat(result.annotation()).isEqualTo("Tuttu");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void stripAnnotation_uncertainName_extractsNameBack() {
+        PersonNameParser.AnnotationResult result = PersonNameParser.stripAnnotation("Richard  (Quast ? )");
+        assertThat(result.cleaned()).isEqualTo("Richard Quast");
+        assertThat(result.annotation()).isEqualTo("?");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void stripAnnotation_onlyParen_returnsPlaceholder() {
+        PersonNameParser.AnnotationResult result = PersonNameParser.stripAnnotation("(OnlyParen)");
+        assertThat(result.cleaned()).isEmpty();
+        assertThat(result.annotation()).isEqualTo("OnlyParen");
+    }
+
+    // --- split — annotation extraction end-to-end ---
+
+    @Test
+    void split_birthYearAnnotation_extracted() {
+        PersonNameParser.SplitName result = PersonNameParser.split("Clara de Gruyter(*1871)");
+        assertThat(result.firstName()).isEqualTo("Clara");
+        assertThat(result.lastName()).isEqualTo("de Gruyter");
+        assertThat(result.annotation()).isEqualTo("*1871");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void split_uncertainName_extractsLastName() {
+        PersonNameParser.SplitName result = PersonNameParser.split("Richard  (Quast ? )");
+        assertThat(result.firstName()).isEqualTo("Richard");
+        assertThat(result.lastName()).isEqualTo("Quast");
+        assertThat(result.annotation()).isEqualTo("?");
+    }
+
     @Test
     void stripTitle_isPassthrough() {
         PersonNameParser.TitleResult result = PersonNameParser.stripTitle("Walter de Gruyter");