What's Your Name?

In every forms you fill in Canada (I think same thing goes for Malaysia), they will ask for your surname, given name, first name, last name, and middle name. They won't ask your nickname thought except probably for social networking sites. Most of us aren't used to all this kind of stuff. I wasn't at first. So, I thought I would shed some light on this small but important issue.

There are a couple of things that I will mention. Probably other seniors would want to add more.

First of all, you have to be consistent. You don't want to fill in one first name one day and then fill in another name the next. For example, if your name is like mine (Muhammad Aiman bin Azlan), consider "Muhammad" as first name, "Aiman" as middle name, and "Azlan" as last name. You can disregard the "bin".

So officially, I will be known as "Muhammad Azlan" because they will only mention your first and last name. However, I will still ask my friends to call me Aiman. For those who have a hard time pronouncing or remembering that name, I just ask them to call me Muhammad.

Second thing is terminologies. By now I think you guys know what is first name, middle name, and last name. What is surname and given name? Well, surname is your last name/family name and given name is your first name. For Muslims, your father's name can be treated as your family name. For others such as Chinese, I think you know what your family name is.

The third thing is how to break down your name. For those you who have a three-part name like me (excluding the "bin"), I think you already understand how to break your name down. For those of you who have a two-part name such as Anas bin Azlan (my brother) for example, then you wouldn't have a middle name. No biggie, you won't be using it for official purposes anyway. Plus, middle name is usually optional to fill in. Plus, it'll be less complicated for you. However, if you want a middle name so bad, you can either use "bin" as your middle name or create a middle name yourself.

How about if you have a four-part name or more? First of all, hats off to your parents! Well, you have to choose. For example, if your name is something like Nur Aminah Wadud binti Ali (I made this name up), then you can be a bit creative. Say, you can take "Nur Aminah" as your first name, "Wadud" as your middle name, and "Ali" as your last name. Or, you can take "Nur" as your first name, "Aminah Wadud" as your middle name, and "Ali" as your last name. It's up to you. You have a bit of space in determining your first and middle name. I don't think you can choose "Wadud Ali" as your last name though. Last name is usually your father's name or family name.

Generally speaking, I don't think someone has more than a four-part name. If you do, I think you can extrapolate from what I've already explained above.

Did I miss anything? If I did, ask me in the comment space. Maybe other seniors might want to add something.

Sincerely,
Muhammad Azlan