I know this may be a non issue, but according to the latest news you need both a last name and a first name. I dislike this because races like argonian and khajiit do not typically have last names. I see the point because everyone is on the same server and such, but honestly gw2 does this too and does not require both names. Er, not everyone is one the same server, but the names are game wide. Also, and perhaps those that were at pax could answer this for me, were you able to use symbols such as - and ' as those are also rather important in argonians and khajiit... as well as orcs actually. Eh, just my thoughts.

I agree, I absolutely hate this, but it's not game breaking, just really svcks

You should make this a poll

Question: Should First and Last Names be required?

1) Require First and Last name
2) Require First name only
3) Require First name only and allow the use of spaces
4) Require First and Last name and allow the use of spaces

This has come up before. I do hope the name requirements end up being race dependent. I do not like the idea of Argonians and Khajiit with a last name. Makes no sense and is a blatant lore violation.

I wish they would let you do the Guild Wars 2 or Eve Online thing making spaces in your name optional, that way people who want a last name can get it and the people who don't get a 1 word nickname as well. The fact that a last name is required is almost game breaking to me, sure I love the Elder Scrolls series but I'm not that hardcoe of a roleplayer, I been using the same nickname in every online game and I don't want to stop now...

This is yet another mechanic that does not really translate well to online play. Especially with everyone being on a single server so unique names virtually have to apply. And before you start, I am well aware of the @ handles, but those too present a number of their own issues. Before blowing this up now you should wait and see, I would be very surprised if they have not considered and rejected a number of naming conventions.

perhaps argonians , nords , Orc's , and Khajiits should adopt thier master's last names .. might be more appropriate and fitting .. and would correct the lore issue imo.

This would be great indeed.

I am also in favour of one word names for the more than obvious reasons stated by the OP. I have seen plenty of one word named characters in TES. If they absolutely must have a surname there should be an option to not display it.

Yes unique names are a must. However, why make both a first and last name a must? Variety helps make more unique names and is easily doable over large player numbers as recent games like GW2 have proven, which requires unique names across the entire game rather than just server because of the guesting feature. Allowing single word names as long as multiple word names not only suits the lore but also suits what they are trying to achieve. Leaving them out just seems odd.