By using prepared statements and escaping user inputs, we now know how to handle special characters in people's names. Right?

Wrong.

I've experienced many interesting system failures due to my surname. Nowadays, most of them relate to a specific kind of problem – one that often surfaces when dealing with older systems. I’ll explain this problem and how to address it.

I'll also tell you when it's sensible to drop support for apostrophes altogether. Somewhat counterintuitively, there are cases where those of us with apostrophes in our names will thank you for doing so.