Thread on middle names. As we discovered at CAcert, there is now one form of names., and attempts to regularise it into one clean system are doomed to be unclean.
https://twitter.com/EricaJoy/status/1401291431591911424
Some random things about names. It’s possible to have two first names, or a name with two names in it.
In Spain, everyone has two surnames, one from either side. Also in Spain, up until recent times, first names were religious, and all women were named Maria of something.
In Spain, everyone has two surnames, one from either side. Also in Spain, up until recent times, first names were religious, and all women were named Maria of something.
For example, Maria de La Mar or Maria del Sol, which shortens to Marisol. So not only multiple words but multiple forms.
In Greece, when your name is written on legal documents, it includes your parentage, sometimes only your father, other times both.
In Greece, when your name is written on legal documents, it includes your parentage, sometimes only your father, other times both.
When names are written on government issued identity documents there is no requirement that they be the same. So depending on the ‘breeder documents’ used, you can have distinct variations.
Typically in many parts of the world, women on marriage change their surname. But they don’t necessarily lose their other one; this is useful for maintaining two personalities apart, and separate finances when divorcing.
Men sometimes do this too.
Men sometimes do this too.
Immigrants in the last century into the new world would meet with border officials who would rewrite their old name into some approximation within the new language. And thus, two names.
Same happens with Asian cultures - passports can show two different names, one in romanised.
Same happens with Asian cultures - passports can show two different names, one in romanised.
We call this the One True Name fallacy. There is no one true name. And if there is no one true name, what is an acceptable name?
An acceptable name springs from use, and recognition by the community, in many and different ways- we’ve all known people who go by different names.
An acceptable name springs from use, and recognition by the community, in many and different ways- we’ve all known people who go by different names.
An authority-issued document is only a local stamping - the passport is a document to pass borders, and is unreliable beyond that.
The Driver Licence is a permit to drive, and is unreliable beyond that.
Why? Because that’s all the issuer is practically interested in.
The Driver Licence is a permit to drive, and is unreliable beyond that.
Why? Because that’s all the issuer is practically interested in.
This is why anglo identity cards don’t work so well, and European-style identity cards work very well: Anglo reliance on identity documents gets into a mess when the documents differ, whereas in Europe they simply grab the ID number, and ignore the name (or any differences).
Historically, Anglo world is hung up on WWII propaganda about how bad demands for papers are, as shown in countless movies. But for authorities to deal with the confusion in documents, they demand more, and the outcome is worse - inconvenient, unreliable, overbearing.
Without understanding the cultural element in identity systems, many engineers are at sea, and they sink when they meet an assumption trivially broken by strange people doing daft things.
Eg, one of the ways in which CA/PKI/x509 web browsing sunk was the obsession in the anglo world with the One True Name. American style engineers asserted that if they could present a certificate with the name in it, that would be what the users needed.
At one level, which name? The corporation name? or the domain name… Both might be important, depending on ones PoV.
But at a deeper level, users wanted to know the site was reliable. And they never got that, bc certs stopped at the name.
But at a deeper level, users wanted to know the site was reliable. And they never got that, bc certs stopped at the name.
Why not go further? Bc CAs told browsers what they needed, and browsers didn’t understand any better. By the time it was shown to be of low efficacy, it was too late, and the CAs were in the trap of not being able to revise the narrative.
So, many people think x509 couldn’t do what was required. But actually, it was the infrastructure around x509 that couldn’t do what was required: the CAs, the browsers, the contracts, the servers… all locked into a deadly embrace of low performance.
In summary, beware the fallacy of the One True Name. If you’re obsessed about the name of someone, you’re probably on the wrong track.
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