I have a set of names that looks as such:

names <- structure(list(name = c('Michael Smith ♕',
                         'Scott Lewis - Realtor',
                         'Erin Hopkins Ŧ',
                         'Katie Parsons | Denver',
                         'Madison Hollins Taylor',
                         'Kevin D. Williams',
                         '|Ryan Farmer|',
                         'l a u r e n   t h o m a s',
                         'Dave Goodwin