3 ms·

In way you are right. From the global point of view the exceptional case is the American one, Name Middle Family. It's about 330 M people vs 8 billions, 4%, wh

In way you are right. From the global point of view the exceptional case is the American one, Name Middle Family. It's about 330 M people vs 8 billions, 4%, which is less than 10%. But then you add the exceptional cases for every country or culture. From the other comments we already know that even in Western Europe there are many differences. So if you sum all those exceptional cases you get the 100% of the world population. Edit: 330 M, typo was 353 M.

skissane 3y ago
> From the global point of view the exceptional case is the American one, Name Middle Family. That’s not really “American”. Most other Anglophone countries are mostly the same. Maybe it should be called “Anglophone” not “American”? To a certain extent, even “West European” There are some subtle differences - my impression is the US is more accepting of generational suffixes (Jr, III, etc) than Australia is, for instance. But the overall structure “Given [Middle…] Surname” is shared
- freddie_mercury 3y ago
  Is it really true that most Anglophone countries are the same? Is that how they do it in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, the Philippines, Jamaica, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Botswana, Ghana, South Africa, and Fiji? There are a lot more Anglophone countries than just the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.
  - skissane 3y ago
    I think we should distinguish between (1) traditional English naming practices, and Anglophone countries which have inherited those from England, and (2) countries with a majority non-European cultural background which have adopted the English language, but some or many of whose naming practices derive from that non-European cultural background. When I said "Anglophone", I was really talking about (1) not (2). Maybe I should have said "Anglosphere". But, I don't actually know to what extent majority non-European Anglophone countries ("Anglophone but not Anglosphere") take their naming practices from England vs from their non-European culture(s); quite possibly, for some of them, much of their naming practices are derived from English/British culture not their non-European culture(s), and hence in terms of "First Middle Last" may be indistinguishable from (1).
- numpad0 3y ago
  > Most other Anglophone countries are mostly the same. I don't have any French or German or Polish friends to verify but this is so demonstably false just by reading some of comments here. Name Middle Family is clearly at most American.
  - lmm 3y ago
    France, Germany and Poland would not normally be considered Anglophone.
  - skissane 3y ago
    > Name Middle Family is clearly at most American. It isn't "at most American" because UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand also mostly use "Name Middle Family", just like the US does. There are still some differences in their naming practices, but those differences generally relate to subtler issues, not the big picture issue of name order.

skissane 3y ago

> From the global point of view the exceptional case is the American one, Name Middle Family. That’s not really “American”. Most other Anglophone countries are mostly the same. Maybe it should be called “Anglophone” not “American”? To a certain extent, even “West European” There are some subtle differences - my impression is the US is more accepting of generational suffixes (Jr, III, etc) than Australia is, for instance. But the overall structure “Given [Middle…] Surname” is shared

freddie_mercury 3y ago
Is it really true that most Anglophone countries are the same? Is that how they do it in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, the Philippines, Jamaica, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Botswana, Ghana, South Africa, and Fiji? There are a lot more Anglophone countries than just the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.
- skissane 3y ago
  I think we should distinguish between (1) traditional English naming practices, and Anglophone countries which have inherited those from England, and (2) countries with a majority non-European cultural background which have adopted the English language, but some or many of whose naming practices derive from that non-European cultural background. When I said "Anglophone", I was really talking about (1) not (2). Maybe I should have said "Anglosphere". But, I don't actually know to what extent majority non-European Anglophone countries ("Anglophone but not Anglosphere") take their naming practices from England vs from their non-European culture(s); quite possibly, for some of them, much of their naming practices are derived from English/British culture not their non-European culture(s), and hence in terms of "First Middle Last" may be indistinguishable from (1).
numpad0 3y ago
> Most other Anglophone countries are mostly the same. I don't have any French or German or Polish friends to verify but this is so demonstably false just by reading some of comments here. Name Middle Family is clearly at most American.
- lmm 3y ago
  France, Germany and Poland would not normally be considered Anglophone.
- skissane 3y ago
  > Name Middle Family is clearly at most American. It isn't "at most American" because UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand also mostly use "Name Middle Family", just like the US does. There are still some differences in their naming practices, but those differences generally relate to subtler issues, not the big picture issue of name order.