I’ve never really understood how to use Chinese names. I know it sounds weird, it would sound weird to me had I heard it from someone else, but it’s true. In Israel it’s very simple - my name is Ori Maoz, which means that almost always I’d be addressed as “Ori”. Practically everyone is addressed on a first name basis, including in situations such as students approaching their university professors. In the United States it might be a bit different - “Ori” to people familiar to me, and ocassionally “Mr. Maoz” in more formal situations.
Chinese names are composed of a family name (the first word) and a given name (the next one or two words). The given name is rarely used - usually it is used intimately, by family members and close friends. Sometimes the full name (all two or three words) is used when addressing a person. Often the surname is used, with an addition of either “small” or “old”: in my case it could be “Small Maoz”. The rules of when to use “small” and when to use “old” are not too simple themselves, and depend on both the age of the speaker and the age of the person addressed. Yesterday I’ve met a driver called “Small Zhou”, he seemed to be in his mid-fourties. When I later asked when would “Small Zhou” turn into “Old Zhou” I was answered with laughter.
Lin herself is actually called “Lin Qian” - in other words, while Lin is actually her surname I use it as her given name. This is due to her (wise) decision, when she came to Israel, to present herself just with her surname - her given name is a bit difficult to pronounce in Hebrew. I’ve gotten quite used to calling her Lin and was only peripherally aware of her full name. Of course, now that her family is here (she’s not the only Lin!) this can pose a slight problem.
Another weird thing about Chinese names is their prevailant use of honorifics. When studying simple Chinese texts, it had always seemed anachronistic when “Engineer Wang” was speaking with “Schoolmaster Zhang”. But meeting Lin’s mother and older brother, I was surprised to hear that her mother is called “Teacher Hu” and her brother called “Manager Lin”. Note that this is not how they’re called in formal occasions, this is how they are addressed by their friends! This is even though Teacher Hu is quite old and hasn’t taught for many years (Manager Lin is still a manager, through). Maybe I should adopt myself some honorific… I’m thinking of “Emperor Maoz”.