compare similar but unequal strings (names)

It was developed to compare similar names in portuguese, but it can be adapted to other languages, or different uses.
I think we can make some presumptions, at least in most occidental languages:
- the strings won't be all abbreviations. It would make no sense regarding names;
- there might be commas or dots;
- names are separated from each other;
- abbreviations may be not (George HW Bush);
- same number of names in strings (Al Unser Jr ~= Al Unser)