I put up with all sorts of quirks which the Germans have acquired within their language and how they use the language, but there is one thing which has been really bugging me lately. You'll probably think that it's nothing, but I think it is something because they are misusing the language and making me look like the idiot in the process.
Here's the situation: I go to fill out a form and the first box says "Name" (same as the English word name). So, what do I write? It doesn't specify "first name" or "last name", so I take a gamble and figure that it is the first box so I'll write my first name. Wrong. I move on to the second box and there it is written "Vorname" (first name). So, apparently I'm supposed to just know that my "name" is not in fact Laurie but is Koning. Of course, I know that on most official forms the last name is written first, but forms can be very nerve-racking and I try to do exactly as the instructions tell me. If someone on the street asks for your "Name", you don't say just your last name. "Name" is a general term for a person's entire title, such as Dr. Milly Gray, Pat Dewey, or Mr. Sire. Why, oh why do they just put "Name"!?!
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It seems like if they are asking for your name, they want your surname, which would be your last name. Then it's followed by your first name, which would be your Christened, given, baptismal, name, whatever you want to call it. Like you said, most forms would probably want your last name first. Yes, you would introduce yourself in a casual conversation with yoru first name, but if they are looking for an official name, they probably want the name you are known by formally. Besides, remember, in Germany they do things "backwards", like putting the verb at the end of the sentence. So if they ask for your name (surname) first, it makes sense b/c it's backwards to how you say it. LOL Too bad you weren't able to read the second name box before you had to fill out the first box. The you would have known. So now you know, on German forms, when they ask for name, they mean your surname and when they ask for your vorname, you write your first name.
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