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Where I am from, we don't have first and last names. It's usually a name people call you by and your full name. Full name can have multiple parts (usually 2-3 c
by smusamashah 3y ago
Where I am from, we don't have first and last names. It's usually a name people call you by and your full name. Full name can have multiple parts (usually 2-3 can be more). The cast or family name usually comes at the end. Some cast related names are in the beginning as prefixes.
E.g. First part of my name is Muhammad but no one ever calls me by this in my country (Pakistan). This is one of the most common prefix here. I am usually surprised when some one here in UK correctly calls by my name instead of Muhammad.
Filling official form with Muhammad as my "First Name" is a weird experience knowing that this is what I will be called in communications.
- wdutch 3y agoFunnily enough, I have the same problem and I'm from the UK. I now live in Southeast Asia where officials will call me by my middle name which is a really weird experience for me.
- smusamashah 3y agoI think a better format for forms can be "name", which is the name you would like to called by, and "full name", which should cover a lot more cases.
- mcmoor 3y agoIt's always been a forced input format that doesn't stand scrutiny even a bit outside of western world.
- esperent 3y agoAlso fair to note that Western people who live in places with other name formats will suffer the reverse problem.
- redeeman 3y agothought: when half the country has a "muhammed" appendage to their name, what does it even mean? and might it perhaps be time to just not consider it as such?
- tczMUFlmoNk 3y agoIt seems a bit presumptive to me to suggest that entire other cultures change their definition of what a name is just because you don't understand them. If someone tells me their name, I think that it is right to believe them unconditionally. No matter if it starts with Wang (100M people!) or ends with -son/-dottir (~all of Iceland) or contains affixes or other common parts. Names are deeply significant and have more value than just contributing information entropy to a unique identifier.
- redeeman 3y agoat no point did I suggest we should not believe someone when they say their name. But what purpose is a complete unit in a name if it is what 1/2 of everyone else in a country has too? the icelandic case is different, as it does after all function as a lastname, just a suffix on the lastname. I see no value in this, its kinda like putting salutation into the name. I would receive NO value in having an additional firstname of "Mr"
- smusamashah 3y agoThis is a common prefix among Muslims. It is not serving a calculated purpose. This is appended out of respect of the prophet they believe in. There are certain sects which append or prepend name of some other religious figure important to them. I have been told that some people even use to (and may be still do) add name of their teachers with their names in older times out of deep respect / reverence. Names are part of identity the same way origin is. Can't just ask to purge it because everyone around has some of it in common.
- redeeman 3y agoif everyone has it, it ceases to have any significance, and can be ignored. this is why someone might have been called "johnny 1 leg", because he only had one leg. You do not hear things like "2 legs 2 arms 10 fingers 1 heart 1 bellybutton johnny"