Authors’ Names in a Globalized American Journal of Neuroradiology

Anglophone names.

These generally comprise 1 or 2 given names (first and middle) followed by the paternal family name (eg, Robert Francis Kennedy). In some cases, the maternal family name may be used as a middle name, but this is mostly a personal preference. On occasion, individuals may have only a first but no middle name (eg, Edward Jenner).

Chinese names.

The Chinese use different systems that allow them transliteration of their names to English, such as pinyin and the Wade-Giles system.¹ The first is mostly used in mainland China and the second in Hong Kong. Their family name precedes their given name(s). Family names are generally monosyllabic (eg, Wang) but occasionally contain 2 syllables (ie, Ou-Yang), whereas given names may have 1 syllable (eg, Song) or 2 syllables (eg, Zhi Yong). Given names may be spelled separately or hyphenated. Most Chinese authors submit their names in English format, but when they send it to us in its original order, confusion may arise.

Korean names.

In Korea, the family name comes first and is followed by a duosyllabic given name (eg, Kim Daejung).² Family names are generally monosyllabic but occasionally they contain 2 syllables. Transliteration to English is generally done by use of the McCune-Resichauer system or the government-created Revised Romanization of Korean system. When most Koreans write their names in English, they follow Western order (this is true in most medical journals).

Japanese and Vietnamese names.

In Japan and Vietnam, the family name also comes first and is followed by a given name.³ Many Japanese family names take root in features of rural landscape and are extremely varied. Middle given names are not used in Japan, but when used, they become one with the first given name because a space is not a permitted character. Middle given names are, however, used in Vietnam. Although given and family names are easily recognizable in Japanese, they may coincide and become indistinguishable when romanized. Most Japanese and Vietnamese academics whose work is published in English journals follow the Western order when listing their names.

Spanish and Portuguese names.

These names follow a more complicated structure. Spanish persons may have 1 or 2 given names followed by 2 family names. Family names are organized as follows: paternal first and maternal second. Some of us have “Americanized” our names (I legally changed mine from Mauricio Castillo Gonzalez to only Mauricio Castillo) to avoid confusion. For Spanish-speaking authors, I have the following suggestion: use only your paternal family name or hyphenate both family names (look at the names of the authors listed below in reference 5).^4,5 If I had retained my original name, it is possible that I would be mentioned as M.C. Gonzalez in the literature. A married woman may adopt her husband's paternal family name and drop her maternal family name but retain her paternal one. This is evident to readers because the newly acquired family name will be separated from the previous one by the preposition de (“of”), as in Maria Victoria Mendoza de Perez (in AJNR, her name would be listed as M.V.M. de Perez). This tends to create a problem when de Perez is dropped, and she becomes, again, M.V. Mendoza Rivas. In Portuguese, family names are also compound, but the maternal name comes first. As a tradition, when a woman marries, she drops the maternal name and keeps the paternal one while adding her husband's paternal last name. When Portuguese names are indexed, their last family name is used.

Indian names.

As a tradition, Indians did not have the concept of using family names, but during British occupation they integrated them into family life.⁶ A traditional Indian name comprises the name of the native (ancestral) village, father's name, given name, and sometimes the caste title (ie, Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanan). Married women may use their husband's name as their family name. This is particularly true in the southern regions of India. For example, C.V. Raman is a famous physicist, but Raman is his given and not family name. We urge our Indian contributors to list their family name last so it can be correctly quoted. Send us your name exactly as you wish to see it in AJNR.

Arabic names.

Traditional Arabic names consist of 5 parts (but may have more) as follows: given name (in males it may be preceded by one of the attributes of Allah), honorific name (generally does not appear in print), paternal family name (starting with bin or ibn meaning “son of” or “daughter of,” respectively), a religious or descriptive epithet, a last name that may be a true family name or a short phrase that stands for occupation, geographic location, or tribe.⁷ This complex traditional practice is declining, particularly in countries with Western influences such as Lebanon and some African countries. Women do not take their husband's family name when they marry. Christian Arabs may use a combination of names derived from the Bible.

I have not specifically mentioned Western European names because most French, German, Italian, and other names comprise a simple or compound given name and a patronymic family name. English is not the most commonly used language in the world, but it is certainly the de facto language for science. More than 90% of all scientific and medical journals in the world are published completely or partly in English.

We at AJNR do our best to publish author's names correctly, but because of an increasing number of articles originating from outside of the United States, we urge authors to take responsibility and to let us know exactly how they want their name to appear. In this editorial, I have attempted to give our readers an idea about the complexity involved.