I was excited at the thought of surnames being included in FFXIV. Now that several months have passed and I see the pros and cons next to my XI experience I have to agree with the OP that surnames are worthless.

A nice middle ground would to show only the characters name but upon examination it would declare their full title with the linkshell they belong to. Thats a middle ground. Personally, I would prefer surnames be wiped and be allowed to rename and possibly re-select our races. SE is making big changes to this game and I want a chance to change too, leaving FFXIV's launch behind me with it.