For sorting purposes and consistency all the names in IMDb are stored in "lastname, firstname" format within the database itself.
For example:
-
Paul Newman is stored as Newman, Paul
-
James Earl Jones is stored as Jones, James Earl
When displaying filmographies and film credits, the names are converted to the more common/clearer "
First Last" format
(i.e. Cruise, Tom is shown as Tom Cruise).
The Chinese however write their names putting the family name first. In Chow Yun-Fat's case, for example, Chow is the family name (like "Smith") and Yun-Fat is the first name (like "John").
Therefore, according to the rule above, the name is stored in IMDb as
Chow, Yun-Fat and displayed in film credits as
Yun-Fat Chow
By the way, a case like the above is easy to determine because there's a dash in the name, which typically identifies the first name.