Overview
With Personal Names (人名) the structure of them varies widely from culture to culture. This article will mainly focus on the historical origins of personal names.
In modern times, a person's name is often composed of a first name, which refers to the individual, and a family name, surname, or clan name (equivalent to the Japanese surname or family name), which represents the family community to which the person belongs and there kinship roots. This is said to be due to the influence of western powers, China, and Japan.
Some ethnic groups, such as the Arabs and Icelanders, still do not have family names. For such ethnic groups, it is customary to add the father's name for personal identification.
Other components of personal names include baptismal names and middle names.
In areas influenced by western powers, most people's names are in the order of "given name, family name," while those around east Asia, influenced by China and Japan, have names in the order of "family name, given name".
