Quote Originally Posted by zxc View Post
In the US most people use "last name". Surname sounds pretty formal to an American, and is used formally and informally in the UK depending on where you are there. Also rare but not necessarily unheard is "family name".

US English names in a nutshell in order of common usage (from my perspective, at least):
1. first name, given name, Christian name, forename (very unlikely to hear this in the US)
2. Middle name, second/third/etc name
3. Last name, surname, family name
Wow, it's such an irrefragable answer. I like that Americans are so logical in this line: first - middle - last. Easy to remember. Thank you.