[smallbeer]

OK here's some more example code. Like I say, this works but I need to limit the results. Any help appreciated.

$tables = array('boys', 'girls');
$names = array();
$order = array();
foreach ($tables as $table) {
   $result = mysql_query('SELECT id, name, created FROM ' . $table);
   while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
       $names[$table . '_' . $row['id']] = array('name' => $row['name'], 'table' => $table);
       $order[$table . '_' . $row['id']] = $row['created'];
   }
}
asort($order)
foreach ($order as $id => $created) {
   printf('<a href="%s/%2$s.html">%s</a>', $names[$id]['table'], $names[$id]['name']);
}