Why is American and European people putting their family name after their given name?

[joshi_chuugakusei]

Overseas names are already harder to remember, why make it harder by putting your names backward? To use this evening American election as example. I only remember Trump being a family name because of Disney character also named Donald who share name with mr Donald Trump. To me, it would be more natural to write Trump Donald. Like we write Japanese names. When I read ドナルド・トランプ I first think Donald is his family name. Because you write overseas names backwards news about overseas people also write your names backward.

[KostasKouvalis]

It's not only Americans and Europeans. Literally everyone writes them this way except East/SE Asians.

I don't think either is right or wrong just different. Most people are confused the way you guys do it. For a very long time I was confused as to why Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un have different surnames, then someone finally told me that "Kim" is the family name, and that Asians write it backwards. But now I don't know if Il and Un are middle names or first names.

But Kim Jong Un sounds better, then Jong Un Kim. Un Jong Kim wouldn't sound better though. But Trump Donald just sounds weird. But maybe Kim is the only one, because Park sounds weird im front and for the last South Korean president we said, Banki Moon. And for Japan we said Shinzo Abe. I never heard him reffered to as Abe Shinzo. Unless I have his names reversed. The only reason I figured out North Korea's was reversed, is because his son succeeded him. But I don't know why we make an exception for Kim Jong Un. But I don't think Sato Noriyuki sounds better than Noriyuki Sato.

Point being, it's only Asian people who do this. Everyone else writes Given name. Middle name. Family name.

[KostasKouvalis]

So in America your name would be Chuugakusei Joshi?

I'm not familiar with Asian names so I don't know which are given names and which are first names, except for the really common ones

[joshi_chuugakusei]

Joshi Chuugakusei is a term, not a name. But you gave good answer.

[NamerOfStars]

We don't- you do. An individual's first name is more important, because that's who the individual IS. "Trump", is this case, would be his entire family, and that would only be relevant if you needed to categorize him before identifying him- and there really aren't any good reasons to do that, unless you intend to discriminate on that basis. He is Donald, of the family Trump. Absent other Donalds, his being Trump wouldn't matter; WITH other Donalds, his being Donald is still more important. With only other Donalds, his being Trump could reasonably be more immediately relevant, but short of the convention of Trump, Glover, Southerland, Knotts, Rickles, Adams, Henley, King, and Duck, how often is that going to happen?

[FreyaRed]

Usually you have officially in most christian countries two names (not family name). One you get by birth another by baptizing or third one by confirmation. In some languages like German is family name or names called officially "Nachname (n)" what means after name (s) or last name (s). That's why it comes as second, but not always, some formulas demand family name as first entry.
Lot of women take surname of their spouse as first surname but add their family name they have been born with. This is often the case when spouses name has lower social status like birth name of the bride. Some families in Europe are nobility names, own coat of the arms and documented history. It's snobbish and classism but it opens sometimes some closed doors.

[Gwendoline]

I think at least in Britain at one time no one had last names except maybe nobility because people often didn't leave their village, so being called john was not a problem because you were the only john.

Anyway the surname is to tell people apart and arrived after the Normans. Sometimes the last name meant son/daughter of and that eventually became the last name. Often last names were their trade like thatcher or Smith or Miller or Taylor Some last names are names that can be used as first names and that goes back to son/daughter of like Thomas or Martin. So maybe Trump's ancestor was a Trumpeter or drummer.

Spainish women apparently don't take their husband's last name. I couldn't wait to take my husband's last name.

[Gwendoline]

Something I noticed about Americans as an immigrant is that a lot of Americans have first names that are last names in Britain.

[KostasKouvalis]

I was gonna say that thing about being named after their job, but you already said it. I learned that from a British guy on the Cayman Islands. For some reason, I never made that connection before.

Is that Spanish women like from Spain or Hispanic women from Latin America? The ones in Latin America usually have four names. Their given name, then their mother's and father's maiden names and then I'm assuming the last name is after their spouse, but now you''ve got me second guessing it.

If I ever get married, I'm taking my wife's surname, unless her's ends up being even more complicated than mine, which knowing luck I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Damn. I can't believe you're only 8 and already married.

So you DO live in the U. S.
Interesting. I've never noticed that, but I've been to some countries where people had first names that in the U. S. are last names.
I never made the British connection until recently, because British surnames are so common here, I never thought about their origin. To me, they were just American names. I only started to make the connection very recently after I found some British people with surnames that I recognized in America, and I was like, "OH! THAT'S where they came from."

We also have many foreign surnames that have been Anglicized. For example Smith was originally the German Schmidt.

[Astarlessnightsky]

Its just a different convention of how names are used in different parts of the world.

European names evolved by just adding the profession or the family relatioship to the name, or where you met each other, or where the person lives.

Like Ericson is the son of eric, or Smith was the smith of the village. re-state//background_color_rgba (0, 0, 0, 0), font_color_rgb (77, 77, 77), justifyLeft

[Astarlessnightsky]

And before the name was enough, only when more people gathered in a town, and you met 5 Alex's on your way to the marketplace.

[purplepoppy]

I don't know about Europe but the English didn't start using family names until the 11th century when the French took over. Usually they reflect your job e. g. smith, Miller or something you lived near eg Hill, Marsh. The problem was you then get lots of people called Smith so it was easier to say the given name first.


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[Avicenna]

Tradition and legal requirements

[Anonymous]

What are you talking about?

[KostasKouvalis]

That in Asia is name is Joshi Chuugakusei but in America and Europe it would be Chuugakusei Joshi

[Opinion Owner]

@KostasKouvalis ok

[KostasKouvalis]

Yeah. Basically, he thinks it's weird that we don't write the family name first

[Opinion Owner]

@KostasKouvalis your first name goes first then your last name after

[KostasKouvalis]

In their countries, YES. Like the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. Kim is his family name

[Opinion Owner]

@KostasKouvalis too weird

[KostasKouvalis]

Yeah, this is weird to me as well, and he claims only Americans and Europeans don't write it like that, when literally it's only Orientals who write family name first.

[Opinion Owner]

@KostasKouvalis well I wouldn’t worry about that. Where about yourself? Now somebody’s last name

[joshi_chuugakusei]

@KostasKouvalis U
I do not know how rest of the world write their names.

[Opinion Owner]

Don’t worry about that man concentrate on American style of first names and last names

[In_Trance]

Slow day?

[joshi_chuugakusei]

No, I just ask because I wonder about it.