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

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