Naming traditions in different countries

In Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese cultures, the family name is placed before the given names. So the terms "first name" and "last name" are generally not used, as they do not in this case denote the given and family names.

In modern days, some Chinese adopt a Western given name in addition to their original given names, e.g. Lee Chu-ming adopted the Western name Martin, which can often be used as a nickname of Chu-ming. The adopted Western name can be put in front of their Chinese name, e.g. Martin LEE Chu-ming. In addition, many people with Chinese names have non-Chinese first names which are commonly used. Sometimes, the Chinese name becomes used as a "middle name", e.g. Martin Chu-ming Lee, or even used a "last name", e.g. Lee Chu-ming Martin.

Vietnamese family names present an added complication. Like Chinese family names, they are placed at the beginning of a name, but unlike Chinese names, they are not usually the primary form of address. Rather, people will be referred to by their given name, usually accompanied by an honorific. For example, Phan Van Khai is properly addressed as Mr. Khai, even though Phan is his family name. This pattern contrasts with that of most other East Asian naming conventions.

In Japan, like in China and Korea, the first name follows the family name. A person with the first name "Ichiro" and the family name "Suzuki" is, therefore, called "Suzuki Ichiro" rather than "Ichiro Suzuki". The civil law forces a common surname for every married couple, unless in a case of international marriage In Japan. In most cases, women surrender their surnames upon marriage, and use the surnames of their husbands.

In Chinese, Korean, and Singaporean cultures, women keep their own surnames, while the family as a whole is referred to by the surnames of the husbands.

In Hong Kong, some women would be known to the public with the surnames of their husbands preceding their own surnames, such as Anson Chan Fang On Sang. Anson is an English given name, On Sang is the given name in Chinese, Chan is the surname of Anson's husband, and Fang is her own surname. A name change on legal documents is not necessary. In Hong Kong's English publications, her family names would have been presented in small cap letters to resolve ambiguity, e.g. Anson CHAN FANG On Sang in full or simply Anson Chan in short form.

Many Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese surnames are of the same origin, but simply pronounced differently and even transliterated differently overseas in Western nations. For example, the common Chinese surnames Chen, Chan, Chin, Cheng and Tan, the Korean surname Jin, as well as the Vietnamese surname Trần are often all the same exact character. The common Korean surname Kim is also the common Chinese surname Jin. The common Mandarin surnames Lin or Lim is also one and the same as the common Cantonese or Vietnamese surname Lam and Korean family name Lim.

In Tibet, people are often named at birth by the local Buddhist Lama or they may request a name from the Dalai Lama. They do not often use family name though many have one. They may change their name throughout life if advised by a Buddhist Lama, for example if a different name removes obstacles. The Tibetans who enter monastic life take a name from their ordination Lama, which will be a combination of the Lama's name and a new name for them. So, many Tibetan names come from Buddhist scriptures, including words that have positive meaning such as happiness and luck. 

In Thailand, both given name and family are often long and there are a great many of them. The diversity of family names is because they are required to be unique to a family, and they are a recent introduction. According to the current law to create a new Thai surname, it must not be longer than ten Thai letters, vowel symbols and diacritics are not counted.

 Thais will address each other by nicknames. Given by parents or relatives in early childhood, these nicknames are typically one syllable. They may often be nonsense words or humorous, and usually have no relation to the person's actual name, although in some cases may be diminutive forms of their first name, like "Nok" for "Noknoi" which means respectively bird and little bird, the first used as a nickname and the second being the first name. All Thais have such a name, and they are freely used in everyday life regardless of how childish they may seem to non-Thais.

In addition, some Thais may also have additional nicknames given by their friends or colleagues especially during their school age or adolescence. These friend-given nicknames are usually linked with a notable physical feature or behavior of that person. For example, a boy who wears glasses may be called “Waen” by his friends. After being frequently called Waen by his friends, he may at some point accept that name as another nickname, even though he still uses his family-given nickname when he speaks with members of his family.

Westerners meeting Thais in everyday life will usually be introduced to the Thai person only by their nickname, and will not discover the person's real name unless they ask: Thais tend to assume that Westerners cannot pronounce or remember long Thai names. Except in the most formal situations, it is quite acceptable to address or refer to a Thai by their nickname. The nickname can be preceded by "khun". This will seem slightly comic to Thais, but will be understood as a gesture of respect. 

In Myanmar, There is no family name. Women keep their maiden names upon marriage, and children can have names which bear no relation to their parents’ names. The Burmese custom of naming is fairly unique. It symbolizes the combination of the particular virtue for a person and astrological calculation of the day of the week that the person was born based on Burmese lunar calendar year.

A few days after they were born, their parents made Zar Tar and inscribed their name on it by astrologer. At least that is how they know the time they were born, according to their Zar Tar record. 

 

(Zar Tar)

Zar Tar is a stack of palm leaves smeared with residual oil and folded into a handy packet. It is an old-fashioned birth certificate, declare the name of newly born baby, usually prepare by monks and astrologers, by going through complex calculation of the location of stars, sun, and the date and time of the birth of new baby.

Myanmar names could be chosen from various types of form; some choose only one single word name, and since four words names are no longer uncommon, but still two words or three words names are mostly preferable by typical Myanmar families. In general, one single word could be one syllable, but there are still a lot of outstanding single words composed into more than one syllable with beautiful meanings. For example, Single words with one syllable are Thant, Win,Tun,...etc. Single words with two syllables are Nanda, Oakar, Ohmar,…etc.

Basically the first syllable represents the day of the week that the person was born. Therefore, one could easily find out which day of the week that the person was born just by knowing the name in majority. For example, the first syllable, Tun, of the name “Tun Ba Kaung” represents Saturday born.

Myanmar women are, unlike other cultures, traditionally granted a privilege, taking a pride of freedom in which they don’t have to change their names when they get married. It never happens into the consciousness of Myanmar people, as a matter of fact, that it is a necessary custom to follow.