Many parents think of multiple names and combinations and name their child only to be screwed up when and where it matters the most in terms of official documentation and so on. I have experienced it myself and like me I believe many others have gone through and are still going through it.
Having an initial in the front or back ?
Do we need an initial ?
Father name as initial and expand it as surname when required?
Do we keep it as single name or two or three ?
Let me give an example to work with so that our system is understood and what a mess we are in.
All names mentioned below are for reference and not to mock or criticise anyone, so let’s begin.
Our subject’s name is C.Vignesh Kumar
Simple and common name with no issues right.
The initial is front here in birth certificate and then later on becomes at the back because degree certificates print it as Vignesh Kumar. C
Passport document doesn’t accept Initials and so it has to be expanded. It then becomes Vignesh Kumar Chandran (Chandran is his father’s name). It obviously can’t be Chandran Vignesh Kumar because his given name has to be mentioned first otherwise it becomes even more complicated.
The same goes for PAN Card ID where surname has to be mentioned and so it becomes Vignesh Kumar Chandran
Aadhaar is linked with PAN and so the same names gets carried forward there
Our birth certificate is the main problem because there is no standard format and they accept whatever you name and the problem starts there.
C.Vignesh Kumar has a newborn kid and applies for the birth certificate with the name as V. Sanjay Kumar.
Ofcourse he gets the birth certificate but then gets rejected or told at Aadhar centre that having an initial at front causes issues later on so better to rectify it as Sanjay Kumar.V and then apply for Aadhaar.
The problem starts here and sadly initial needs to be expanded again depending on documentation etc
Another error most parents or adults make is giving their father’s name as surname. There is no practice of surname or family names in south India at least. For example in the north Das/ Patel / Yadav are common surnames.
Surname actually means family name which is carried over generations and databases find it easier to identify your name through surnames and not initials and that’s why it has to be expanded in Passports
So maintaining a uniform name across all documents makes the most sense and it’s also easier for the child as well.
My simplistic recommendation would be
Name your kid with two names without any initial and finish it. I know many people will insist on having their father name or place name etc or the tradition of having an initial no matter what. But it just adds more confusion later on. We never know when the rules will change and having different name formats will cause trouble when applying for VISA or legally in terms of property name transfer and all
In our example it’s easier to name his child as Sanjay Kumar or Sanjay Vignesh or Sanjay Chandran without any initial and surnames would be decided upon his wish. Or any other name as second name would also be sufficient. Because Surnames doesn’t require your fathers name or family name as such, it simply needs a name to be filled there.
Also having a single name also will create an issue because you would leave out surname as empty and more risk to get your VISA rejected in certain countries because surnames are mandatory
In case of three names your last name becomes surname
Sanjay Kumar Vignesh means Sanjay Kumar is the first name and Vignesh is the surname.
Initials are not mandatory and likewise having your father’s name as a part of your name is also not mandatory
So keep the name short with two name format and treat the second name as surname, that’s it
AVOID INITIALS !