In the Foreign Service we encounter lots of strange things, but one annoying thing is how the world handles names.  This wouldn’t be a problem except when we have to enter them into Western databases designed for the typical Brady Bunch format – Last, First, Middle. 

I just got a notice that “clearly” states how I should enter foreign names, and how to enter them into the name fields:  Name1 is the western Last Name, Name2 is the First name, and so on.  Here’s the actual helpful instructions I got:

  • Example:  Jason Alexander Chow:  “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Jason Alexander” goes in Name 2.
  • Example:  Chow Yun Fat:  “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Yun Fat” goes in Name 2.
  • Example:  Chow Yun Fat Jason:  “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Yun Fat” goes in Name 2; “Jason” goes in Name 3.
  • Example:  Jason Chow Yun Fat:  “Chow” goes in Name 1; “Yun Fat” goes in Name 2; “Jason” goes in Name 3.
  • Example:  Shanmugam s/o Subramaniam:  “Shanmugam” goes in Name 1; “s/o Subramaniam” goes in Name 2.  (This name contains no true surname.)
  • Example:  Mohamad bin Maliki bin Osman:  “Mohamad” goes in Name 1; “bin Maliki” goes in Name 2; “bin Osman” goes in Name 3.  (Again, this name contains no true surname.)
  • Example:  Mohamad bin Maliki Jones:  “Jones” goes in Name 1; “Mohamad” goes in Name 2; “bin Maliki” goes in Name 3.

Now thats as clear as mud!