Asking for father's name is pretty much India's equivalent of Americans asking "what's your current salary", you use it to judge the person's situation.
I don't see how. Last name is same usually for both father/son, and you can't figure anything out from first name. It's almost useless information I think, except maybe differentiate between two people with same name, which is useful only for government applications I think.
In some parts of India, first names can be very lengthy, and contain lots of information, like: where you're from, your father's name, your grandfather's name, etc.
Being from America the nation, obviously. I'm sure you're just being pedantic, but that is how it's used. I'm not sure why you feel a need to make a point about this.
