Just as a reminder: Scandinavian and many other European countries also use “surname first” in a number of official and legal contexts.
- In courts and legal documents, names are written as Surname, Given name.
- In public archives, census records, and registries, the surname‑first format is standard.
- Police, military, and other uniformed services routinely address people by surname first.
- Several European countries (e.g., Hungary, the Czech Republic) use surname‑first in formal settings as a matter of tradition.
So this isn’t something unique to East Asia. We use surname‑first ourselves — just in different situations.