Top n Scores

[Chris Williams]

I know this is old and has been discussed, but a) I can't find a resolution, and b) I'm stumped.

I have a table: name (varchar), points (int). It is the result of a complex query, and so, yes, it's ordered. It has duplicates on name, points, maybe both, e.g.:

Fred 50
Fred 30
Fred 20
Fred 10
Fred 5
Barney 15
Barney 15
Barney 10
Barney 5
...

And so on. I need to get the top n scores for each name -- e.g. if n=2 that would be:

Fred 50
Fred 30
Barney 15
Barney 15
...

Yes, I'll be doing sums and such, but that's the easy part. Any help, ideas?

Thanks