Personal Name - Name Order

Name Order

Since a name is made up of several parts, the order in which those parts are arranged can be significant. The order family-name given-name is commonly known as the Eastern order and is used in Hungary, parts of Africa, East Asia (for example in China, Japan, Korea, Malaysian Chinese, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam), and Southern India. The order given-name family-name is commonly known as the Western order and is usually used in most European countries and in countries that have cultures predominantly influenced by Western Europe (North and South America and Australia and New Zealand). In these countries, the family name is often used first in lists and catalogues, with the family and given names separated with a comma (e.g. Smith, John). For example, most Western libraries use this order, and if one fills a form sheet, family name is usually asked first.

When East Asian names are transliterated into the Latin alphabet, some prefer to convert them to the Western order at the same time, while others leave them in the Eastern order but write the family name in capital letters. To avoid confusion, some always write a family name in capital letters, especially when writing for an international audience. This habit is commonly used in the international language Esperanto. In Hungarian, e.g. Japanese or Chinese names are most frequently used in the Western order (first name-last name), however, they sometimes remain in the same order as those of Hungarians.

Chinese people, except for those traveling or living outside of China, rarely reverse their names to the western naming order (given name, then family name). Western publications usually preserve the Chinese naming order, with the family name first, followed by the given name. In regards to Japanese names, most foreign publications reverse the names of modern individuals, and most Japanese reverse their own names when creating materials for foreign consumption. In popular journalism publications, western order is used for Japanese names.

Japanese names of contemporary individuals and Hungarian names are usually "switched" when individuals who have such names are mentioned in media in Western countries; for example, Koizumi Jun'ichirō is known as Junichiro Koizumi in English, and Puskás Ferenc is known as Ferenc Puskás. But Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese names of historical figures are usually left in East Asian order; for instance, Máo Zédōng is known as Mao Zedong in English.

Names of Japanese or Chinese sportspeople generally follow the above conventions. For Japanese examples, see Ichiro Suzuki instead of Suzuki Ichirō (although he is widely known simply as "Ichiro" in both Japan and North America), or Hidetoshi Nakata instead of Nakata Hidetoshi. As for Chinese sportspeople, Yáo Míng is Yao Ming and Liú Xiáng is Liu Xiang in the West.

Names of Korean sportspeople may be rendered in East Asian or Western order in Western countries, apparently depending on the sport. For example, names of Korean footballers and athletes are usually left in East Asian order (e.g. Ahn Jung-hwan, Hong Myung-bo, Park Ji-sung, Sohn Kee-chung, Hwang Young-cho). Baseball players' names are usually changed to Western order; for example Park Chan-Ho is referred to in the West as Chan-ho Park. Golfers' names are also typically switched to Western order; the female golfer Pak Se-ri is known in the West as Se Ri Pak. Confusion can be avoided by noticing that in all the above cases, the words linked by a hyphen are the given name.