diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fc284367bb8b..d2ecd50e91c5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Changed
 
+- Now History creates a copy of the export state(s) so that we can remove the original un-split field to avoid duplicates
+- Changed the naming convention for the split name(s)
 - A small performance improvement. cycle => exit in MAPL_Generic.F90
 - Made history global metadata configurable. This can be done in two ways
   1. Globally for all collections by setting `COMMENT:`, `CONTACT:`, `CONVENTION:`, `INSTITUTION:`, `REFERENCES:`, and `SOURCE:` at the top of `HISTORY.rc` like `EXPDSC:`
diff --git a/base/Base/Base_Base_implementation.F90 b/base/Base/Base_Base_implementation.F90
index c06be8629dd7..4dd6d5037d86 100644
--- a/base/Base/Base_Base_implementation.F90
+++ b/base/Base/Base_Base_implementation.F90
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include "MAPL_Exceptions.h"
 #include "MAPL_ErrLog.h"
 #include "unused_dummy.H"
 
@@ -3657,50 +3658,54 @@ subroutine genAlias(name, n, splitNameArray, aliasName, rc)
       integer :: n
       character(len=*) :: name
       character(len=*), allocatable :: splitNameArray(:)
-      character(len=*), optional :: aliasName
+      character(len=*) :: aliasName
       integer, optional :: rc
 
       integer :: i, k
       integer :: k1, k2, kk, count
+      integer :: nn
+      character(len=ESMF_MAXSTR), allocatable :: tmp(:)
+
       allocate(splitNameArray(n), stat=status)
       _VERIFY(status)
-      if (present(aliasName)) then
-         ! count the separators (";") in aliasName
-         ! if they match n (i.e. the count = n-1) use each
-         ! else if count is 0, append 00i to aliasName
-         ! else return an error
-
-         ! parse the aliasName
-         count = 0
-         k1 = 1
-         kk = len_trim(aliasName)
-         do k=1,kk
-            if (aliasName(k:k) == ";") then
-               count = count+1
-               k2=k-1
-               _ASSERT(count < n, 'Too many split separators')
-               splitNameArray(count) = aliasName(k1:k2)
-               k1 = k+1
-            end if
-         end do
-         if (count == 0) then
-            do i=1,n
-               write(splitNameArray(i),'(A,I3.3)') trim(aliasName), i
-            end do
-         else if(count == n-1) then
-            k2 = kk
+
+      ! parse the aliasName
+      ! count the separators (";") in aliasName
+      count = 0
+      k1 = 1
+      kk = len_trim(aliasName)
+      do k=1,kk
+         if (aliasName(k:k) == ";") then
             count = count+1
-            splitNameArray(count) = aliasName(k1:k2)
-         else
-            _ASSERT(.false.,'Inconsistent number of split separators')
          end if
+      end do
+      nn = count+1
+      allocate(tmp(nn), __STAT__)
 
-      else
-         do i=1,n
-            write(splitNameArray(i),'(A,I3.3)') trim(name), i
-         end do
-      end if
+      count = 0
+      do k=1,kk
+         if (aliasName(k:k) == ";") then
+            count = count+1
+            k2=k-1
+            if (count > n) exit ! use atmost n of the aliases
+            tmp(count) = aliasName(k1:k2)
+            k1 = k+1
+         end if
+      end do
+      count = count+1
+      k2 = kk
+      tmp(count) = aliasName(k1:k2)
 
+      do i=1,min(nn,n)
+         splitNameArray(i) = tmp(i)
+      end do
+      deallocate(tmp)
+      ! if the user did no supply enough separated alias field names,
+      ! append 00i to the original field name
+      do i=nn+1,n
+         write(splitNameArray(i),'(A,I3.3)') trim(name), i
+      end do
+      
       _RETURN(ESMF_SUCCESS)
     end subroutine GenAlias
   end subroutine MAPL_FieldSplit
diff --git a/gridcomps/History/MAPL_HistoryGridComp.F90 b/gridcomps/History/MAPL_HistoryGridComp.F90
index ba766119c54e..a468c68c71ef 100644
--- a/gridcomps/History/MAPL_HistoryGridComp.F90
+++ b/gridcomps/History/MAPL_HistoryGridComp.F90
@@ -275,6 +275,7 @@ subroutine Initialize ( gc, import, dumexport, clock, rc )
 
     type(ESMF_State), pointer      :: export (:) => null()
     type(ESMF_State), pointer      :: exptmp (:)
+    type(ESMF_State)               :: expsrc, expdst
     type(ESMF_Time)                :: StartTime
     type(ESMF_Time)                :: CurrTime
     type(ESMF_Time)                ::  RingTime
@@ -424,6 +425,7 @@ subroutine Initialize ( gc, import, dumexport, clock, rc )
     type(ESMF_Field), allocatable :: fldList(:)
     character(len=ESMF_MAXSTR), allocatable :: regexList(:)
     type(StringStringMap) :: global_attributes
+    character(len=ESMF_MAXSTR) :: name
 
 ! Begin
 !------
@@ -1427,7 +1429,7 @@ subroutine Initialize ( gc, import, dumexport, clock, rc )
 ! Get Output Export States
 ! ------------------------
 
-    allocate ( exptmp (size0), stat=status )
+    allocate ( exptmp(size0), stat=status )
     _VERIFY(STATUS)
     exptmp(1) = import
     allocate ( export(nstatelist), stat=status )
@@ -1625,6 +1627,17 @@ subroutine Initialize ( gc, import, dumexport, clock, rc )
     _ASSERT(.not. errorFound,'needs informative message')
     deallocate ( exptmp )
 
+! Create a copy of the original (i.e. gridded component's export) to
+! be able to modify if safely (for example by splitField)
+! ------------------------------------------------------------------
+    do n=1,nstatelist
+       expsrc = export(n)
+       call ESMF_StateGet(expsrc, name=name, __RC__)
+       expdst = ESMF_StateCreate(name=name, __RC__)
+       call CopyStateItems(src=expsrc, dst=expdst, __RC__)
+       export(n) = expdst
+    end do
+
 ! Associate Output Names with EXPORT State Index
 ! ----------------------------------------------
     list(:)%subVm = .false.
@@ -2927,6 +2940,10 @@ subroutine splitUngriddedFields(rc)
 
                expState = export(list(n)%expSTATE(k))
 
+! remove the original unsplit field from the export state copy
+               call ESMF_FieldGet(fldList(k), name=fldName, __RC__)
+               call ESMF_StateRemove(expState, itemName=fldName, __RC__)
+               
                do i=1,size(splitFields)
                   call ESMF_FieldGet(splitFields(i), name=fldName, &
                        rc=status)
@@ -5370,5 +5387,42 @@ subroutine shavebits( state, list, rc)
 
   end subroutine
 
+  subroutine CopyStateItems(src, dst, rc)
+    type(ESMF_State), intent(in) :: src
+    type(ESMF_State), intent(inout) :: dst
+    integer, optional, intent(out) :: rc
+
+! local vars
+    type (ESMF_StateItem_Flag), pointer  :: itemTypes(:)
+    character(len=ESMF_MAXSTR ), pointer :: itemNames(:)
+    integer :: status
+    integer :: n, itemCount
+    type(ESMF_Field) :: field(1)
+    type(ESMF_FieldBundle) :: bundle(1)
+
+    call ESMF_StateGet(src,  itemCount=itemCount, __RC__)
+
+    allocate(itemnames(itemcount), __STAT__)
+    allocate(itemtypes(itemcount), __STAT__)
+
+    call ESMF_StateGet(src, itemNameList=itemNames, &
+                       itemTypeList=itemTypes, __RC__)
+
+    do n=1,itemCount
+       if(itemTypes(n)==ESMF_STATEITEM_FIELD) then
+          call ESMF_StateGet(src, itemNames(n), field(1), __RC__)
+          call ESMF_StateAdd(dst, field, __RC__)
+       else if(itemTypes(n)==ESMF_STATEITEM_FieldBundle) then
+          call ESMF_StateGet(src, itemNames(n), bundle(1), __RC__)
+          call ESMF_StateAdd(dst, bundle, __RC__)
+       end if
+    end do
+
+    deallocate(itemTypes)
+    deallocate(itemNames)
+
+    _RETURN(ESMF_SUCCESS)
+  end subroutine CopyStateItems
+
 end module MAPL_HistoryGridCompMod