Re:Ask HN: How to handle Asian-style “Family name first” whe...
by michaelt on Thursday August 31, 2023 @03:28AM
(#37333663)
> Just add a field for the desired form of address, or a nickname.
For westerners you might want sunny, good-news messages to say "Hi John" but for an apology for a problem (like a delay or cancellation) you might want to use the more respectful "Dear Mr Doe"
On the other hand, this discussion has plenty of examples of why separate 'first name' and 'last name' fields don't work in all cultures. And I think we can all agree that asking people for a name and two desired forms of address ready to e-mail them in two different tones would be a very unusual sign up process.
I'm not sure there's any universal, fully respectful way of doing this across cultures.
For westerners you might want sunny, good-news messages to say "Hi John" but for an apology for a problem (like a delay or cancellation) you might want to use the more respectful "Dear Mr Doe"
On the other hand, this discussion has plenty of examples of why separate 'first name' and 'last name' fields don't work in all cultures. And I think we can all agree that asking people for a name and two desired forms of address ready to e-mail them in two different tones would be a very unusual sign up process.
I'm not sure there's any universal, fully respectful way of doing this across cultures.