I've heard that too, but I guess it's not practiced as much in the U.S., since most of my relatives' names are the mother's surname first and the father's last.
Most people I know just have one last name, one middle name, and one first name. Tarja's kid has FIVE names. I don't even know if she could fit that name on a standard 1099 tax return form, here in the States. Let alone, what counts as a middle name.
Yes, most Americans do, but I am half-Mexican, so I was mainly referring to my relatives originally from Mexico. They also carry their mother's surnames, but at least how it reads on their drivers' licenses and such, it's listed as a middle name of sorts.