By Ganiu Bamgbose, PhD
When you hear that ignorance is not an excuse, that does not only apply to the law; it does apply to many other areas of life including the writing of names in documents and academic works. I hate to remember that a journal once wrote my name as ABISOYE, Ganiu Bamgbose. Furious, I had wondered how and why anyone would think of Abisoye as a surname and Bamgbose as a middle name, but I quickly reminded myself that such linguistic perception and onomastic inclination would only be sensed by people who shared my Yoruba cultural background. My inquiry into how names should be represented in documents after the editor replied to my mail that the mistake was mine informed this piece, especially because I still find people make same mistake almost every day.
Apparently I had written my name as “Bamgbose Ganiu Abisoye” on my manuscript when I made my submission to the journal. That order suggested to the editor that Bamgbose was my first name since it was the name I wrote first. Since the surname is written first and capitalised in the in-house style of the journal, my middle name which I wrote last was taken as my surname; resulting in the order: ABISOYE, Bamgbose Ganiu.
It should be known that the first name is the name that was given to you when you were born and it should precede your family name/surname. Unless when required in any other order, you must write your first name before your other names. The names some people have between their first names and their surnames are called their middle names. The middle name is not obligatory. Some people do not have it, whereas some who have it do not use it in their documents. Note that, sometimes, the first and middle names are both called first names. That said, your surname is the name you share with other members of your family. It is called the last name in American English and the second name in British English. The surname is also called the family name. It should be written last as the name implies. For instance, this writer’s surname is Bamgbose, his first name is Ganiu and his middle name is Abisoye. This should be aptly represented as:
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (standard)
Bamgbose Ganiu Abisoye (nonstandard)
Abisoye Bamgbose Ganiu (nonstandard)
If, for organisational preference or as requested, the surname has to be written before the first names, it should be separated from the other names with a comma, as evidenced below:
Bamgbose, Ganiu Abisoye (standard)
Furthermore, if only one name has to be used with a title, then it has to be the surname. We do not use a title and first names. By extension, the use of only a title to refer to, or call someone, either shows ridicule or familiarity. Whichever way, it is not permissible in formal contexts of language use.
Dr Ganiu Bamgbose (standard)
Dr Bamgbose (standard)
Dr Ganiu (nonstandard).
Notwithstanding that, in some contexts, people could be called by their titles, especially professional titles such as engineer, doctor:
Call the engineer, and tell him the chairman is around.
Tell doctor that the VC needs to see him.
The ordering of names is an integral aspect of official writing which is rule-governed. Adherence to the rules prevents misrepresentation as seen in many documents and academic publications.
© 2025 Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose writes from Lagos.
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose, PhD
Department of English,
Lagos State University, Ojo
[email protected]
08093695359, 07084956118
