What should i fill in the blanks of First name, Middle name and Family name

Question

Hi!If my full name is Tan Jing Xin and i have an alias " Annie" which i am used to introducing myself as Annie.May i know....Q1&gt;What should i fill in the blanks of First name, Middle name and Family name in the application form?Q2&gt;What is the difference between family name and last name? are they the same?Q3&gt; What are the difference in Alias, given name and christian name?Thank you very much for ur kindly reply.

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

It can be hard to translate names from other cultures into the western first name, middle name, surname/family name format as a lot of names don't have these elements in the same way. So, as you are having a hard time with this, I assume it is not something that fits very well with your name. In that case, you may well have to make a few decisions about which part of your name you want to put down for each, and there won't necessarily be a 'right' or 'wrong' section to put everything in.

Q1 and 2

Family name (also called surname). In the west everyone in a family usually has the same last name. When a child is born it will take the father's last name (and most women change their last name to their husbands. So, you'll have Mr and Mrs Smith and lots of baby Smiths. If one of your names is shared with everyone in your family, this is the one to pick as your family name. If not, you'll have to pick one of your names. Is there one that is used only formally? Used with a title? The equivalent of our Mrs/Miss X? That would be the best one to use.

First name: this is the name your parents choose for you and is your everyday name. This is the name your friends and family, work colleagues, etc, call you. If someone wanted to call you to get your attention which name would they call out? This is your first name.

Your middle name(s) are just all the other names your parents have chosen for you, but they are not necessarily really used for anything. I have a middle name and the only time I ever think of it is when I have to fill out a form. No-one actually uses it.

Q3

Given name, first name, Christian name, are all the same thing. These days people avoid using Christian name (at least officially, on forms etc, but a lot of people still say it) as it assumes that someone is Christian and has been baptised in church with that name. They are all ways of expressing the name that your parents have chosen to call you by.

An 'alias' is an alternative name to your real one. You choose to use an alias, and choose which name. There is normally a real purpose behind it, it's not used just for a nickname. For example, some authors publish books under different names to their own and that is a type of alias. A criminal will use an alias to make it harder to track him down.

What should i fill in the blanks of First name, Middle name and Family name

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