Quoting Dr Pavlov:

Quote:

Because that was the default that was settled upon, yves.

No default has been settled upon.

Whether it's two cents, two dollars or ten thousand dollars, he is right. There is no agreed default. In general (yes I'm sure there are exceptions) those in the US (and maybe Canada) wanted 1/2/3 while the rest wanted 1//23.

As for what I prefer, as unpopular as it is, I'd rather everyone was on a level footing and had to document either way.

Quoting Dr Pavlov:

Quote:
(...) twice the last century the US had to step up and stop Germany, or save France's behind (...)

I call Godwin's law, you lose.

Quoting Dr Pavlov:

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Who said anything about nazis? That is your ridiculous assumption and a wrong one. You LOSE.

Skip

So, tell me more about those two occurrences where the US had to step up and stop Germany.

Quoting Dr Pavlov:

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If you want to conduct business internationally you better speak English.

Unless in order to do business you need money then apparently Chinese is pretty useful language to learn after all

Quoting VirusPil:

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Before cursing over this post: Please Americans explain me if it is always that the maiden name gets middle name or if it's also possible to take a double name? If not both is possible my post was imho correct. If it's not possible, I went wrong. 

I am not sure why this is still accepted as the norm when it isn't.  Much like Germany, a women can take her husband's name, keep her own name or take both names.  The only difference is that the use of a hyphen is not required.  Until I read about it in these forums, I was never aware of a woman making her maiden name her middle name.  While I am sure it happens, I don't know how common it is.

To muddy the waters even further, there is a new trend, where the husband will add his wife's maiden name to his surname, so that they share the same last name.

And none of us can, Martian, because it is a personal decision. I will not claim that it is either common nor uncommon, it simply IS and anything we claim may or not be true on any individual basis. Which is why I have always said use 1/2/3 unless it can be reasonably proven to be otherwise.  Obviously if a hyphen is used that becomes another story.

The same could be said going the other way. One might conclude that Bobbi Jo would be a first name and in some areas of the US that may be true, but it is NOT a given, without the hyphen Bobbi-Jo we do not KNOW and we cannot know it unless we can find some documentation.

As I have said numerous time, a person's name is the most personal and private possession he has and some guard that knowledge very jealously. I don't understand what the problem is with having a single starting point. No matter what starting point is used it is going to cause problems that will have to be dealt with on a case by case basis. Is it John//Meredyth Lucas, no it is NOT, is Betty//Lou Gerson correct, how about Peter// Navy Tuiasosopo ROFL. I would also submit that it is likely to be far more difficult to document 1/2/3 as opposed to 1//23 most of the time. Most people as with Kate Bowes Renna, there references are not going to indicate anything in particular in this regard, so we would up with much erroneous data. So one side gets what they want and creates a MESS, while the more neutral position, which in most cases is relatively easy to document is stuck with bad data.

What I do know for certain is that the linking will never and can never function properly thanks to a few malcontents.

Hmmmm