Hi, Ardith Hinton!   
   I read your message from 29.01.2019 00:24   
      
      
    AK>> For instance, a teacher asks this question of an unknown boy in   
    AK>> the school. Should he ask "what is your second name?"   
      
    AH> Speaking as a teacher: Unless the school was very small I'd need to   
    AH> know more than the first name to distinguish one kid from   
    AH> another... especially if their parents chose it during a spate of   
    AH> increasing trendiness. When one of my former students rushes up to   
    AH> me enthusiastically & says "Hi... I'm Cathy (or Debbie, or whatever   
    AH> name +/- half my female students had back then)... remember me??" I   
    AH> must confess I probably won't unless they give me a few more clues.   
    AH> As a teacher & as a parent I also understand that the school has to   
    AH> use a person's legal name on all official records, and there is a   
    AH> lot of paperwork involved in establishing that everybody is who   
    AH> they say they are. If Molly's legal name is Molly Moon the school   
    AH> has no authority to change it without documentation which her new   
    AH> parents can't supply unless they've formally adopted her. But I   
    AH> gather Molly is new to this school & hasn't voiced her concerns to   
    AH> the staff.   
      
   That girl had authority - she could hypnotize all the world ;-). In that   
   example "name" was used as a full name. Although, the author could easily use   
   "surname" etc.   
      
    AH> Depending on the age of your unknown boy, I would be inclined to   
    AH> say "family name" or "surname" rather than "second name".   
      
   What about "last name"? Is it better than "second name"?   
      
    AH> Around these parts it is more common than not for people to have   
    AH> two or more given names... and I'm told they may not appear in the   
    AH> order we're used to, relative to the family name, if the individual   
    AH> in question has just arrived from China or SomePlace Else & does   
    AH> not as yet know how to translate their given name into something   
    AH> which those of us who don't speak their lingo will remember &/or   
    AH> think we understand. There's another possible complication too, if   
    AH> the teacher doesn't know a boy's previous history. I can't say for   
    AH> sure whether you'd automatically identify yourself as "Koryagin"   
    AH> nowadays, if you'd spent the last umpteen years in a British   
    AH> private school, because I don't move in those circles. But I see   
    AH> plenty of evidence in the works of various authors that the   
    AH> tradition lasted for a long time....   
      
   Let's take, for the instance, an excerpt from my old translation -- we see a   
   boyscout council with a strict head teacher sitting at the head of the table.   
      
   -----Beginning of the citation-----   
   ....   
   There was no time to hesitate. Slavka quickly stood up.   
    "I am against!"   
    Of course everybody turned around, and Elisaveta Dmitrievna said   
   discontentedly:   
    "It seems to me that you aren't a council member, and, as far as I know, you   
   are a newcomer!"   
    "You are not a council member either," said Slavka calmly.   
    "Ah, what an impudence! What's your last name?"   
    "I am Semibratov," said Slavka   
   ----- The end of the citation -----   
      
   So, could she ask him "what's your name?"   
      
   Bye, Ardith!   
   Alexander Koryagin   
   english_tutor 2019   
      
   ---   
    * Origin: ** nntps://fidonews.mine.nu ** Finland ** (2:221/6.0)