Confused About Surname And Last Name? We Got The Answer

Since I started my study here in Brisbane, I often confuse with my surname and first name. I am called by different names: surnames, last name, middle name. To help you clear the confusion, I will teach you difference, with some examples.

As a Malaysia passport holder, our passports do no have provision for surnames. In western world, surnames are an important concept. The whole identification process is all based on the surname.

Here’s a basic guide to clear your confusion:

(1) Family Name = Surname = Last name
(2) Given Name = First Name

For e.g.

Lim Kit Siang
Lim is (1); Kit Siang is (2)
Chinese name is Surname + Given Name

Daniel is (2); Franklin is (1)
Western name is usually Given Name at front, Family Name at last.

Here are the solutions:

There are five ways of dealing with Chinese names in the western context.

Hyphenate the Given Name
Lim Kit Siang becomes Kit-Siang Lim

Make Given Name into one “word”
Lim Kit Siand becomes KitSiang Lim – usually mispronounced because everyone thought it’s a word

Switch your name around
Lim Kit Siang becomes Kit Siang Lim – The downside to this is when you are called (in lecture, class, bank etc), you end up being Mr Kit Lim. “Siang” is generally treated as middle name and not being used in most cases.

Capitalizing or underlining your surname
Kit Siang LIM is my preference, from my personal experience, most of the admin/personnel at university prefers that too. You can underline your surname as well, like this: Kit Siang Lim. Better yet, capitalize and underlining your surname, like this: Kit Siang LIM.

Give yourself an English name
Call yourself “Johny”, “Eric”, “Anna” if you don’t have one. English first names are easier to remember. I have a friend called Kai Ting, and she uses the first alphabetical character and form it into “Cathy”. Another friend of mine, “Hank”… has a new name derived from his Chinese first name “Heng”. Better yet, a friend of mine name himself Bryan because he has a brother called Ryan. “Brother + Ryan = Bryan”.

If Lim Kit Siang has an English name, let’s give him “Johnny”. His name would be
Johnny Lim Kit Siang, or in Western context Johnny Lim.

Conclusion

Having a simple English first name will certainly clears up the confusions of the Westerners. And this certainly makes your life easier. Remember though, do not use the English name if it your filling your academic / assignment if your student ID does not have English name.

P/S – Usually Malay’s would use their fathers name as a surname when living in Australia.