You presumably have a formal name: A B C D, with A and B being your two given names, C and D being your two surnames.
So what does it say on your ID?
Your birth certificate if you have no ID?
Does your countries revenue service address you as "Dear A B", "Mr C D", "Dear A", "Mr D" or something else altogether?
Yes, that's right. That is my full legal name.
> So what does it say on your ID? Your birth certificate if you have no ID?
Same as my full legal name: A B C D.
> Does your countries revenue service address you as "Dear A B", "Mr C D", "Dear A", "Mr D" or something else altogether?
Well, there is no such thing as "my country" because I'm a dual citizen. Born in Spain, currently living in Canada as a naturalized citizen. That is where the troubles begin, because while in Spain IT systems typically assume people have two surnames, in North America they often assume a single surname.
So far it has not a problem when dealing with the various levels of the Canadian government, but for example my bank addresses me as A B C-D due to limitations in their IT infrastructure.
Incidentally, in Spain we are typically addressed as A C or Mr. C for brevity, while A B C D would be reserved for formal communications.
I hope this answers your questions.
> Same as my full legal name: A B C D.
Right, so your Firstname is A and your Lastname is D. There's no ambiguity there.
You're sorted for those forms that ask for firstname/lastname, not for those forms that ask for given/family name.
You are offering your own unique technical solution to a cultural problem that has already been solved, and while I admire your confidence, I must explain why it is incorrect.
I don't have a "last name", I have two surnames. The notion of "last name" implicitly assumes that there is one and only one surname.
As I already hinted at, people in Spain customarily use their first surname as their "last name". That's why 90% of communications address me as A C, even while living in Canada.
It is my understanding that the same rule is used in all of Latin America, including Brazil.
To take a famous example: the full name of Rafael Nadal is Rafael Nadal Parera: one given name and two surnames, with the first surname taking precedence.
Introducing a hyphen isn't great: it doesn't match my legal name and it's awkward because some people do have a hyphenated surname plus another surname.
I've also met several people whose legal name doesn't include a surname.