Since there seems to be lot of confusion regarding what is a Last name vs. surname vs. family name around the world, I thought it would be interesting to learn about naming conventions around the world.  If users can post what they know about naming conventions in their countries, I think it can go a long ways in enlightening us about how to approach building a better program and database. 

So, I will start with the good old USA.  I am not a geneologist or a census taker, but I do deal with 100s of official names every day in my daily job.  US is a melting pot of various cultures around the world, but what follows is what is typical for the majority.

United States of America

In the USA, official names are what is on the birth certificate or passports or other official documents.  It's not always the same as what most people call you by (William/ Jefferson/ Clinton vs. Bill// Clinton).  In the US, most people are given First name/s, middle name/s, and Last name.  Last name is synonymous with surname.  Most people would not differentiate between surname and the family name.  Surname (greater than 90% of cases) are taken from the father's surname.  There are very few instances of double surname or hyphenated surname (mostly in hispanic families).  When a woman marries, she most often (~95% of cases) takes on the surname of her husband as her surname.  She may keep her maiden surname as her surname (~4% especially if she is in certain professional position). Of the women who take on their husband's surname as their own surname, ~25% change their middle name to their maiden surname (ie. Hillary/ Diane/ Rodham to Hillary/ Rodham/ Clinton).  Very rarely, she may conjoin her husband's name to her name to form a hyphenated or double surname (~1%).

First name is usually a single given name at birth.  In some parts of the country (south), double first names are also common (ie. Mary Jo, Sue Allen, etc).  In many cases, official first names are full length names rather than shortened nick names (William vs. Bill, John vs. Jack, etc), however, this is not always the case.

Middle name/s is also usually a single given name at birth.  It can be another given name similar to first name or in many families, name/s to honor other family member or their surname (John/ Fitzgerald/ Kennedy (named for maternal grandfather John/ F/ Fitzgerald) or George/ Herbert Walker/ Bush (named for maternal grandfather George/Herbert/Walker)).  Some people also have initial only as their official middle name, however this is relatively uncommon.

So in summary,

First name
- Usually a single given name at birth
- Usually a full name rather than shortened name
- Usually the name a person is called in social setting

Middle name
- Usually a single given name at birth/marriage
- Often named in honor of another family member
- Sometimes changed in woman at marriage to reflect her maiden surname

Last name
- Synonymous with surname
- Usually a single name taken from the father's surname
- Usually adopted from husband's surname at marriage for a woman
- Double or hyphenated names are rare except in certain culture

Asian Americans

Asian Americans will usually use western name as their first name and Asian given name as their middle name (small minority will reverse this using Asian given name as their first name and western name as their middle name).  Last name or surname is almost always taken from the father's surname and double or hyphenated last names are very rare.  Unlike their counterparts in Asia, most woman adopt their husband's surname as their surname with marriage.

First name
- Usually western given name
- Rarely Asian given name

Middle name
- Usually Asian given name
- Rarely western given name

Last name
- Synonymous with surname
- Usually a single name taken from the father's surname
- Usually adopted from husband's surname at marriage for a woman
- Double or hyphenated names are rare

China

Naming conventions in China is very similar to Korea.  Official name is what is in the official family register which are kept on file with the local government census office and what is printed on official ID cards and documents.  There is usually a single syllable surname (there are rare two syllable surnames) and single or two syllable given name (single syllable names are much more common than in Korea, but still less than double syllable given name).

Surname is always taken from the father's surname.  Woman does not change her surname with marriage and keeps her surname.  There is no middle name in China (except in Hong Kong).  Names are always written surname followed by given name when written in Chinese.  Names may be reversed when written in English.  Two syllable names may be separated with a hyphen or space when written in English and the second syllable may or may not be capitalized.

In summary:

Surname
- Usually a single syllable name taken from father's surname
- Rarely a double syllable name taken from father's double syllable surname
- Woman keeps her surname after marriage

Given name
- Usually a single or double syllable name given at birth
- Double syllable name can be separated with a hyphen or space or not when written in English
- Second syllable of double syllable name can be capitalized or not when written in English

Middle name
- No such thing

Exceptions for Hong Kong

Perhaps because Hong Kong was a British colony for 100 years, western style nick names and middle names are common in Hong Kong.  Most often the western name closely mimic phonetic pronunciation of their Chinese given name.  However, they can also be completely different.  Many actors and actresses also go by their screen names rather than their real names.  Almost all Chinese actors/actress/crew with both western name and Chinese name will write their name as

Western name/surname/Chinese name when writing in English (ie. David Chiang Dai-wei).  This is so that part of their names sound natural to both the western and Chinese audience (David Chiang and Chiang Dai-wei).

So in summary

Surname
- Usually a single syllable name taken from father's surname
- Rarely a double syllable name taken from father's double syllable surname
- Woman keeps her surname after marriage

Given name
- Usually a single or double syllable name given at birth
- Double syllable name can be separated with a hyphen or space or not when written in English
- Second syllable of double syllable name can be capitalized or not when written in English

Middle name
- Western name or nickname probably comes closest to this definition

Additional input from synner_man

Quoting synner_man:

Quote:
Hong Kong naming conventions are pretty much the same as Korean naming conventions, with the addition of the western name.  Hong Kong, being a former British colony, required English translations to their films.  Many of the actors, actresses and crew adopted an English name to go along with their Chinese one.  This, of course, lead to multiple credits for the same actor.

There are two famous actors named Tony Leung.  Sometimes they are credited that way, but more often they go by their English name and Chinese name combined: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Tony Leung Ka-Fai (sometimes with the dash in their Chinese given name, sometimes without).

Some only go by the Western name (at least, they do when credited using Western characters).  Jackie Chan and Jet Li are two famous examples (though they are also credited in Chinese characters under their proper Chinese name).  Actor Andy Lau is rarely credited as Andy Lau Tak-Wah (and I don't think I've ever seen him credited as Lau Tak-Wah).  Director Andrew Lau is rarely credited as Andrew Lau Wai-Keung or Lau Wai-Keung.  Actor Ngai Sing moved to the US and changed his name to Collin Chou (his real Taiwanese name was Chou Siu-Lun), which he now uses exclusively.  Sometimes the name isn't even consistent, as Johnnie To was sometimes credited as Johnny To in his earlier films.

Some actors used an English name for a brief time.  Lau Ching-Wan tried the name Sean Lau, then dropped it.  Even Chow Yun-Fat went by an English name for a brief time: Aman Chow.

There are also the naming conventions of Mandarin names versus Cantonese names.  Take Lau Kar-Leung.  When he was an action choreographer and director at Shaw Brothers, they used the Mandarin version of his name: Liu Chia-Liang.  In the later years, he went by his Cantonese name: Lau Kar-Leung.  His "brother" Gordon Liu, can be found under his western name Gordon Liu, his Mandarin name Liu Chia-Hui, his Cantonese name Lau Kar-Fei, or a combination of his western name and Chinese names.

Like Korean and Japanese names, you have a translation problem, which means that the name might not always be consistent.  Take Gordon Liu: glancing at HKMDB, they list additional aliases as Lau Ga-Fai,  Lau Kir-Fai,  Lau Kar-Fai,  Liu Jia-Hui,  Lau Ka-Fei and  Liu Chia-Fai.  This is not uncommon in films in the '70s and '80s.

As you can see, Hong Kong naming conventions are not simple (though it isn't difficult to standardize).

In Japan the convention to write names is:
Last name, first name
Middle names don't exist in Japanese.
A short example: Kurosawa Akira (Kurosawa = last name; Akira = first name).

Please note that more often than not, when romanising Japanese names, they often get switched around, citing first the first name, then the last name, although this is not a general rule.

Germany:

First name
- Usually a single given name at birth, but double name is possible (i.e. "Anna-Maria" = Anna-Maria//Müller)
- Usually a full name rather than shortened name
- Usually the name a person is called in social setting

Middle name
- Usually a single given name at birth/marriage (i.e. "Hans Joachim Müller" = Hans/Joachim/Müller); but two or more are possible (i.e. "Beate/Johanna Maria/Glauch")
- Sometimes named in honor of another family member, sometimes just because parents can't decide...  )

Last name
- Synonymous with surname
- Usually a single name taken from the father's surname, but two or more words are possible for titles (i.e. "Max//von Sydow" or "Ursula//von der Leyen")
- Usually adopted from husband's surname at marriage for a woman
- Double names are not so rare, often to reflect the maiden surname of a woman after marrying (i.e. "Julia Meier" marries "Klaus Schmidt": now Julia can decide to be "Julia//Schmidt", "Julia//Schmidt-Meier" or "Julia//Meier-Schmidt"; Klaus stays "Klaus//Schmidt")



Funny Fact: In Bavaria it was not so uncommon to give a man the middle-name "Maria". I think because of the strong catholic influence. (i.e. "Florian/Maria/Huber")

Quoting SpaceFreakMicha:

Quote:
Germany:

Funny Fact: In Bavaria it was not so uncommon to give a man the middle-name "Maria". I think because of the strong catholic influence. (i.e. "Florian/Maria/Huber")

Same here in the Netherlands. In the catholic southern provinces people often have 3 to 4 given names. If one of them is "M.", it is a safe bet this stands for "Maria". Even if it's a man.

Quoting eommen:

Quote:
Quoting SpaceFreakMicha:

Quote:
Germany:

Funny Fact: In Bavaria it was not so uncommon to give a man the middle-name "Maria". I think because of the strong catholic influence. (i.e. "Florian/Maria/Huber")

Same here in the Netherlands. In the catholic southern provinces people often have 3 to 4 given names. If one of them is "M.", it is a safe bet this stands for "Maria". Even if it's a man.

In Germany this is only possible if you have "Gender indicating first name" means a name that can only be used for a boy or a girl. Means: Karl Maria Brandauer is allowed, Kai Maria Brandauer is not.

Quoting SpaceFreakMicha:

Quote:
- Double names are not so rare, often to reflect the maiden surname of a woman after marrying (i.e. "Julia Meier" marries "Klaus Schmidt": now Julia can decide to be "Julia//Schmidt", "Julia//Schmidt-Meier" or "Julia//Meier-Schmidt")

Indeed. In light of the recent discussions, it may be good to stress that it never becomes Julia/Schmidt/Meier - once a last name, always a last name.

Quoting DJ Doena:

Quote:
...For example, our current Federal Minister for Economics and Technology is called "Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg". Luckily he doesn't appear in movies, but his lastname is "Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg" (and he usually goes by the name "Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg")

Nice example, which could also happen in the Netherlands. Actually, the "von und zu" construct happens in some family names here too. For those not initiated in German, "Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg" means Baron from and at Guttenberg. Also notice, there is no family name outside the title.

Perhaps Ken could write him a letter not to appear in movies (or documentaries...) for fear of adapting DVD Profiler once again