First name in English is the first name, and last name is the surname. Chinese personal names are composed of surnames. For example, if a Chinese person is called Zhu Junhua, then zhu is the last name and jun hua is the first name.

In English, "name" is placed first, so it is called first name, also called given name. "Last name" is placed at the end, so it is called last name or family name, also called surname. For example, John Wilson is translated as John Wilson, where John is the first name and Wilson is the surname.

Generally, people are called by the modifier last name. Take the American foreign teacher David J. Scott as an example. They are generally called Mr. Scott, Dr. Scott, and Uncle Scott. Few people are called Mr. David unless they are David himself prefers to be called this.

Friendly greetings between friends are usually by first name, for example: Hey, what's up David? But it would be weird if you say What's up, Mr. Scott?, but there is an exception. In some cases, students in school may greet teachers in this way, because in the United States, students often do not know the teacher's first name at all.

Extended information

In addition to first name and last name, foreign countries also have middle name, which refers to the middle part, but Chinese people do not. The Chinese translation of middle name is the name between the first name and the surname. It is given by parents or relatives. It usually takes the first name or surname of the elder. It is usually the Christian name or in order to commemorate someone. It is called "the second name". given name).

In the United States and Canada, names usually include only a middle name, which is often abbreviated ("middle initials") when writing (especially in signatures). For example, the name of U.S. President George W. Bush is George Walker Bush , abbreviated as George W.Bush, George is the Given name and first name, Bush is the Family name and Last name, and Walker is the middle name.

In addition, in Western countries, some people use their mother's surname or the surname of a person closely related to the family as their second name. Others use their father's name or the name of their father's generation, and suffix it with "Junior". Or Roman numerals to show the difference, such as John Wilson, Junior, translated as John William Jr., George Smith, III, translated as George Smith Third.

A woman’s name has her own name before marriage. After marriage, it is usually her first name plus her husband’s surname. For example, Ms. Marie White married Mr. John Davis, and the woman's name was Marie Davis after the marriage. When writing, the name is often abbreviated to one prefix, but the surname cannot be abbreviated, such as G. W. Thomson, D. C. Sullivan, etc.

Verbal addresses are generally given by surname, such as "Mr. White" and "Mr. Smith". In formal occasions, the full name is generally used, but for those with close relationships, the person's first name is often used. In addition to calling one's own name, family members, relatives and friends also often use nicknames (pet names).

When Chinese people introduce their names to foreigners, they need to put "surname" at the end according to the English saying, so that people can easily understand the first and last names and call you. When we are spelling , when the Chinese name is two characters, the two characters should be written separately, and the first letter of each word should be capitalized.

For example, the English writing of "Zhang San" is: San Zhang.

When the Chinese name is three characters, spell the two characters together with the first letter capitalized. The "surname" should be spelled separately, put at the end and the first letter capitalized. For example, "Liu Dawei" is written in English as: Dawei Liu.