Sql server union but keep order

Question

Is there a way to union two tables, but keep the rows from the first table appearing first in the result set?

For example:

Table1

name                


        

Answer 1

.Like this?

CREATE TABLE #Table1 (Names VARCHAR(50))
CREATE TABLE #Table2 (Names VARCHAR(50))

INSERT INTO #Table1
(
    Names
)
VALUES
    ('John Doe'), ('Bob Marley'), ('Ras Tafari') 

INSERT INTO #Table2
(
    Names
)
VALUES
    ('Lucky Dube'), ('Abby Arnold') 


SELECT ArbSeq   = 1, *
FROM #Table1
UNION ALL
SELECT ArbSeq   = 2, *
FROM #Table2
ORDER BY ArbSeq

It should be noted that ordering is not guaranteed when not explicitly defined. If the table features a clustered index, the rows will typically be returned in the index's order - but this is not guaranteed.