Regnal numbers and names with spaces

[kratostatic]

In most case, the first ranked pre-name is ranked alone, except when the first and the second ranked pre-names are common hyphenated pre-names. That's because the parents' favourite pre-name is the first ranked one (or the first two, hyphenated).
In few case, the children decide to use another pre-name among his pre-names, because he come to prefer it over his first ranked pre-name, for whatever reason.

Right. So your system for writing the names is different, and what you call other prenames we would call middle names, but in practice it's the same system.

Isn't the surname also normally written in uppercase and sometimes given first as well? I remember doing this in my year in France. You also mentioned a seperate "middle name" earlier in thread which was explictly not a given name. Are there any examples you know of off the top of your head?

 

[Kljunas]

I could've sworn this had always been the case. Was this changed at some point then reverted again?

 

[Captain Frakas]

Right. So your system for writing the names is different, and what you call other prenames we would call middle names, but in practice it's the same system.

Isn't the surname also normally written in uppercase and sometimes given first as well? I remember doing this in my year in France. You also mentioned a seperate "middle name" earlier in thread which was explictly not a given name. Are there any examples you know of off the top of your head?

In practice it isn't much different, but in spirit it is different because all pre-names are pre-names (they are all registered in the same line in any form). In a French very complete form you would have, commonly, a box for "title", always, another for "pre-name" (where you put them all), very rarely, another for "particle" (I've only found that in the Normal National School) and, always, another for "family name". All pre-names, are pre-names (are given names) and none of them are separated (as being middle names).
I presume it work approximatively the same in other European continental civilizations, such as the German one (all Vornamen are part of the same category: Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus are all the (latin) pre-names of Mozart, among which he use two of them: Wolfgangus Theophilus, "Wolfgang Amadeus").

On the contrary, in an American full form, there would be a box for the title, another for the first name, another for the middle name and a last one for the family name. Which make it clear that the middle name is separated from the first name. I think that the middle name concept is more or less specific to the English speaking culture (especially in America).

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In France, the family name is normally written in small capitals in bibliographical references and in signatures (for the sole signatures or for other signatures than the main one when there is many signatures) and in grand capitals for the main signature among many signatures (with small capitals for the pre-name of the main signature and lower cases for others signatures' pre-names).

The family name is normally written, without the particle, before the pre-name in bibliographical reference lists (because you search for names before searching pre-names):
BONALD, Louis-Gabriel-Ambroise, vicomte de, Théorie du pouvoir politique et religieux, 1796.

Outside those two points, using upper case for names and ranking it before pre-name is a common (and faulty) administrative use (for computer use comfort).

 

[Bearnest]

Or the former Spanish president of the government José María Alfredo Aznar López (José, María and Alfredo being given names, Alfredo being unused to call him), Aznar ("fox") being his paternal family name, and Lopez ("wolf") being his maternal family name.

Correct, although "Lopez" is rather "son of Lope," Lope being a pre-name derived from Latin "Lupo" = "wolf". (In Spanish, the suffix "-ez" denotes patronymic.)

I know Spaniards friends (from Estremadura) who put an y ("and") between the paternal and maternal family name... Is that specific to a region? From where root the use of the double family name in Spanish? Did it existed in mediaeval times (I mean, with patronymics and matronymics instead of family names)?

From what I know of the Spanish system, the "y" is considered rather old fashioned and/or upper class. Also it feels kind of strange to me (correct but strange) to describe it as a "maternal" family name as it is inherited from the mother's father and so ultimately indicates descent from a male line. If I was designing a naming system from scratch I would use the Spanish system of family names except using the mother's mother's name as the "second" family name.

As far as I know, (and is not excessive) the "y", meaning "and", ligates both paternal and maternal surnames. It was widely used all over Spanish speaking countries from the 16th century until the first decades of the 20th century. Later it fell into disuse and nowadays it may be regarded as presumptuous, hence kratostatic's assertion that is old fashioned/upper class. Although, as mentioned by Captain Frakas, in some regions it may persist as the norm.
In some cases, mainly to distinguish from some other cadet lines or to keep a connection with some renowned ancestor (and the inheritance thereof), some people would compound their surnames.

Jean-Luc-Antoine-Pierre Mélenchon use Jean-Luc as his main pre-names and do not use Antoine and Pierre. That's up to him to chose, among the pre-names his parents gave to him. Jean-Luc Mélenchon is never Jean or Luc because he decided, among his four pre-names, to be called Jean-Luc (Jean-Luc being a common hyphenated pre-name).

There are some "established" compound given names in Spanish, like Jean-Luc in French, such as "José María", "Miguel Ángel" (after Michelangelo), "Juan Pablo", "José Luis", etc. Regionally, in Colombia is common to find people named "John Jairo". Notice these names are not hyphenated.

 

[Willem IV]

I would prefer, the way it's done now: Karl XVI Gustav instead of Karl Gustav XVI

 

[IoannesBarbarus]

I haven't tested, but it would probably work to use non-breaking spaces (as an alternative to hyphens) to move the regnal name where you like. At least in a controlled setup where you name all of your possible heirs or if you're modding history.