diff --git a/geocoder/admin0/sql/build_synonym_table.sql b/geocoder/admin0/sql/build_synonym_table.sql
index 2a689ef..3888949 100644
--- a/geocoder/admin0/sql/build_synonym_table.sql
+++ b/geocoder/admin0/sql/build_synonym_table.sql
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 
 ---- ADMIN0_SYNONYMS ---
+--- ---
+--- NOTE ---
+--- insert order should be from lowest rank to highest ---
+--- this allows us to use table sort order instead of an explicit ORDER BY rank ---
+--- in searches and reduces search cost / time --- 
+--- ---
 -- insert data from ne_admin_0 into admin0_synonyms
 -- the name column from ne_10m_countries is assigned a rank of 0
 INSERT INTO admin0_synonyms (name, rank, adm0_a3)
diff --git a/geocoder/admin0/sql/geocoder.sql b/geocoder/admin0/sql/geocoder.sql
index 97a6b8d..e7062c3 100644
--- a/geocoder/admin0/sql/geocoder.sql
+++ b/geocoder/admin0/sql/geocoder.sql
@@ -1,28 +1,12 @@
-CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION geocode_admin0_polygons(name text[])
+--CREATE TYPE geocode_admin_v1 AS (q TEXT, geom GEOMETRY, success BOOLEAN);
+
+CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION test_geocode_admin0_polygons(name text[])
   RETURNS SETOF geocode_admin_v1 AS $$
   DECLARE 
     ret geocode_admin_v1%rowtype;
   BEGIN
-  FOR ret IN
-    SELECT
-       q, geom, CASE WHEN geom IS NULL THEN FALSE ELSE TRUE END AS success
-    FROM (
-      SELECT 
-        q, (
-          SELECT the_geom 
-          FROM ne_admin0_v3
-          WHERE adm0_a3 = (
-            SELECT adm0_a3 FROM admin0_synonyms
-            WHERE name_ = 
-                lower(regexp_replace(d.q, '[^A-z\u00C0-\u00ff]+', '', 'g'))
-            ORDER BY rank ASC LIMIT 1
-          )
-        ) geom
-      FROM (SELECT unnest(name) q) d
-    ) v
-  LOOP 
-    RETURN NEXT ret;
-  END LOOP;
-  RETURN;
+  -- FOR ret IN
+  RETURN QUERY
+    SELECT d.q, n.the_geom as geom, CASE WHEN s.adm0_a3 IS NULL then FALSE ELSE TRUE END AS success FROM (SELECT q, lower(regexp_replace(q, '[^A-z\u00C0-\u00ff]+', '', 'g'))::text x FROM (SELECT unnest(name) q) g) d LEFT OUTER JOIN admin0_synonyms s ON name_ = d.x LEFT OUTER JOIN ne_admin0_v3 n ON s.adm0_a3 = n.adm0_a3;
 END
 $$ LANGUAGE 'plpgsql' SECURITY DEFINER;
diff --git a/geocoder/admin0/sql/indexes.sql b/geocoder/admin0/sql/indexes.sql
index 90bf8b2..bfd1da4 100644
--- a/geocoder/admin0/sql/indexes.sql
+++ b/geocoder/admin0/sql/indexes.sql
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 -- create indexes on synonyms table
+CREATE INDEX idx_admin0_synonyms_name_patt ON admin0_synonyms (name_ text_pattern_ops);
 CREATE INDEX idx_admin0_synonyms_name_ ON admin0_synonyms (name_);
 CREATE INDEX idx_admin0_synonyms_rank ON admin0_synonyms (rank);
-CREATE INDEX idx_admin0_synonyms_name_rank ON admin0_synonyms (name_, rank);
+-- CREATE INDEX idx_admin0_synonyms_name_rank ON admin0_synonyms (name_, rank);
 
 -- create indexes on polygon table
-CREATE INDEX idx_ne_admin0_v3_adm0_a3 ON ne_admin0_v3 (adm0_a3);
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_ne_admin0_v3_adm0_a3 ON ne_admin0_v3 (adm0_a3);
 
diff --git a/geocoder/admin1/sql/geocoder.sql b/geocoder/admin1/sql/geocoder.sql
index d086e4d..318301e 100644
--- a/geocoder/admin1/sql/geocoder.sql
+++ b/geocoder/admin1/sql/geocoder.sql
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 --- Function
 
-CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION geocode_admin1_polygons(name text[])
+CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION test_geocode_admin1_polygons(name text[])
   RETURNS SETOF geocode_admin_v1 AS $$
   DECLARE 
     ret geocode_admin_v1%rowtype;
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Text array, country name
 --- SELECT (geocode_admin1_polygons(Array['az', 'Texas'], 'Ecuador')).*
 
 --- Function
-CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION geocode_admin1_polygons(name text[], inputcountry text)
+CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION test_geocode_admin1_polygons(name text[], inputcountry text)
   RETURNS SETOF geocode_admin_v1 AS $$
   DECLARE 
     ret geocode_admin_v1%rowtype;
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ Text array, country array
 
 --- Function
 
-CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION geocode_admin1_polygons(names text[], country text[])
+CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION test_geocode_admin1_polygons(names text[], country text[])
   RETURNS SETOF geocode_admin_country_v1 AS $$
   DECLARE 
     ret geocode_admin_country_v1%rowtype;