Quoting bbbbb:

Quote:
Quoting Unicus69:

Quote:
There is none that I am aware of.  They have to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

I see.

I did not ask for no reason, within the next three days I have to pronounce judgement
on this concrete case:

Is "Alden" a second first, middle, or the first word of a two-part last name?

Provided that Alden is no Chinese.

You should provide some more info.
For instance, is "Alden" the only name on screen?
Is it a stage name?
Where is this Alden from?
Any documentation about the person, the family, etc.?

Anyway, the US based Onelook.com web page shows that Alden can be either

A male given name (rare: 1 in 16666 males; popularity rank in the U.S.: #889)

A surname (rare: 1 in 50000 families; popularity rank in the U.S.: #6993)

Needless to say, any name can also be used as a middle name in the cultures that use middle names, like the US. Other cultures don't use middle names (only double first names and double last names), so the middle name can be ruled out.

Quoting bbbbb:

Quote:
Quoting Unicus69:

Quote:
There is none that I am aware of.  They have to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

I see.

I did not ask for no reason, within the next three days I have to pronounce judgement
on this concrete case:

Is "Alden" a second first, middle, or the first word of a two-part last name?

Provided that Alden is no Chinese.

Alden could be a first, middle or last name. Depends on the person you are referring to.

Alden Wayne Dumas
Phil Alden Robinson
Cary Wilmot Alden

Quoting RHo:

Quote:
Am I missing something? What information has bbbbb given to you to support middle name? If I see a credit which says "Alden" (and "Alden" only), I would put it into the first name field. Single word credits are usually stage names.

You are missing something.  The original question was:

What is the indisputable distinction between second first names, middle names,
and two-part surnames?

In the context of that question, it is quite logical to believe 'Alden' is the second part of a three part name.  If it was a single word name, the original question makes no sense.

Quoting kdh1949:

Quote:
@bbbbb & RHo

I agree with Unicus on this.  There has to be some context around which we determine if Alden is a first or middle name.  It may or not be, depending on who this particular Alden is -- and bbbbb didn't give enough to go on.  It's not a black and white issue.

Have I said something different?

Quoting kdh1949:

Quote:
Quoting RHo:

Quote:
Have I said something different?

Your post that started "Am I missing something..." seemed to indicate otherwise, IMO.  That's all.

Then, it's indicating something wrong. What I wanted to state is, that bbbbb has not given enough context, so that skipnet50 can assume "Alden" to be a middle name. We could as well assume it to be a stage name. And the which I have added is not for decoration only.

skipn:

Quote:
Don't assume, bbbbb. As noted for our purposes it is a middle name unless it can be documeted otherwise.

Would 'Bruce' in well-known director Charles Bruce Adam Salkeld's name be the second first name
or the first of two middle names, assumed that Adam is not the first of a two part last name?

Quoting 8ballMax:

Quote:

Alden could be a first, middle or last name. Depends on the person you are referring to.

Alden Wayne Dumas
Phil Alden Robinson
Cary Wilmot Alden

Why is Alden in the middle middle and not second first respectively first last?

Quoting bbbbb:

Quote:
Quoting 8ballMax:

Quote:

Alden could be a first, middle or last name. Depends on the person you are referring to.

Alden Wayne Dumas
Phil Alden Robinson
Cary Wilmot Alden

Why is Alden in the middle middle and not second first respectively first last?

Because Max is using the the starting point that many of us agreed on...'first/middle/last' unless documented otherwise.