It may not be common, but I don't think it is an unreasonable thing to expect. Think of a country such as the Democratic Republic of Congo -- I'm not entirely certain, but I'd imagine it is common for someone to simply start typing "Congo" while still expecting the result to be available.

This example may not be ideal since this country selection has both "Congo" and "Congo, Democratic Republic of" in its data set, but the principle can probably be applied elsewhere.