Spanish naming customs

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Spanish naming customs refers to the fact that in Spanish-speaking countries people typically have two surnames, the first inherited from the father and the second from the mother. When referring to people it is common to use one or both forenames and the first surname, but this is not a rule rigidly applied e.g., the second surname is often used when signing legal documents. References below to Spain also apply, sometimes to a lesser degree, to other Spanish-speaking countries.

Contents 1 Naming system in Spain 1.1 First names 1.1.1 María and José 1.1.2 Names registered 1.2 Maiden name in Spain 1.3 Transmission of surnames 1.4 Castile and Alava surnames 1.5 The particle de 1.6 The particle "y" 1.7 'Son of' and '-ez' 1.8 Foundlings 1.9 Foreign citizens in Spain 1.10 Hypocoristics and nicknames 1.11 Other languages in Spain 1.11.1 Catalan names 1.11.1.1 Hypocoristics and nicknames 1.11.2 "Mohamed" 2 Naming system in Latin America 2.1 Caribbean 2.2 Argentina 2.3 The particle "de" 3 Spanish surnames among Filipinos 4 See also 5 Notes and references 6 External links

[edit] Naming system in Spain

In Spain, people always have two surnames and one or two given names (two names are also called a composite name). The concept of middle name as known in English-speaking countries doesn't exist in Spain. Thus José Antonio Calderón Iglesias is Señor Calderón ("Mr. Calderón" in English), not Señor Iglesias, and "Calderón" is not a middle name. His friends would call him either José Antonio, José or (less often) Antonio. When people with Spanish names immigrate to the United States, they sometimes resort to uniting their surnames with a hyphen in order to avoid frequent confusion, thus: "Mr. José Antonio Calderón-Iglesias".

Legally and traditionally the first surname is the father's first surname (apellido paterno, paternal surname), the second the mother's first surname (apellido materno, maternal surname). In recent times laws of gender equality allow the surnames to be transposed, subject to the condition that all children of a family must use the same order. Even before these laws, the order could be changed in special cases.

[edit] First names

In Spain first names are chosen by the parents and must be registered at the Registro Civil (Civil Register).^[1] It used to be customary for parents within the Catholic religious tradition, when having their children baptised, to have them named by the priest, but this custom has been widely dropped nowadays.

Parents can choose any names they wish, with few restrictions. Sometimes a name is chosen to honour a living or dead relative. The most common source of names is the nomina of Catholic saints and the traditional Spanish names.

Legislation in Francoist Spain and some other countries (e.g. Videlan Argentina, Pinochet's Chile) used to allow only Christian and classical names; in some cases the forenames of immigrants had to be translated into what was deemed their closest equivalent. Nowadays the only limit in Spain is the dignity of the newborn, so a child cannot be given a name which is insulting to it or for the general public. Similar restrictions applied for "diminutives" or familiar and colloquial variants that have not been recognized in their own right or "those that lead to confusion regarding sex"^[2]. However, the new Spanish law on gender identity^[3] has authorized the registration of diminutives.^[4]

[edit] María and José

Girls born into Catholic families were often named after Mary, mother of Jesus (the Virgin Mary), with the addition of the name of one of her shrines, a geographical location where someone had a vision of her, or a religious concept. This custom is in some decline but by no means abandoned. Some women omit the "Mary of the..." part of their names and use only the last, except on official documents and very formal occasions. So, for example, the real names of "Ángeles", "Pilar" and "Luz" (literally "Angels", "Pillar" and "Light") are often "María de los Ángeles", "María del Pilar" and "María de la Luz." Each of these is considered a single (composite) name. A girl may also be named simply "María".

"María" can be part of the name of a male if prefixed by a masculine name: for example, José María Aznar. Conversely, a girl can be named "María José" or "Marijose" after Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary.

In writing, the name "María" is commonly abbreviated "Mª" or "Ma".

[edit] Names registered

The official Spanish Registro Civil records a single forename or at most two forenames (also known as one composite forename), plus two family names per person. People can be baptized with more than two forenames (e.g. the son of Infanta Elena, Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos), but this is almost never done except by royalty and the nobility, and has no legal validity.

[edit] Maiden name in Spain

In Spain, a woman does not change her surnames when she marries. Therefore the concept of a 'maiden name' does not exist in Spain. Thus when Pedro Pérez Montilla marries Leocadia Blanco Álvarez she always will be known as Leocadia Blanco Álvarez.

An example of the this usage is in Don Quixote 2, V where Teresa Panza reminds that she should be properly called by her father's surname.^[5]

[edit] Transmission of surnames

The transmission of surnames is equal for women and men. For example: if Ángela López Sáenz and Tomás Portillo Blanco have a daughter named Laura and a son named Pedro they will normally be named Laura Portillo López and Pedro Portillo López (they could also be named Laura López Portillo and Pedro López Portillo, but always the same order for all children).

If the paternal surname comes first, it means that the surnames of the female branch get lost as generations pass. So to protect equality between genders, current laws in Spain allow that the maternal surname can be the first one.

While Spain has recently introduced legal provisions to allow parents to freely decide the order of surnames, the overwhelming majority of Spaniards continue to follow the traditional pattern of father's first and mother's second. Traditionally, the person is usually commonly known by his/her first name and father's last name only. For example, Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas Fernández is more commonly known as just Iker Casillas to the football world and colleagues. His Real teammate Raúl González Blanco would similarly be known as Raúl González, but he is more commonly known in football circles simply as Raúl.

It should be noted, however, that historically the transmission of paternal name to surnames was not the convention. Prior to the mid-18th century, in many Spanish-speaking countries, children were given the maternal surname and in some occasions even that of a grandparent shared by neither of the child's parents due to prestige or land inheritance. The paternal-maternal combination and name order is a phenomenon that developed only in the last two hundred years.

As is still the case with Catalan names, in Spanish names the option exists to connect the two surnames by means of y ("and"): one well known example of this is José Ortega y Gasset. Thus, Tomás could choose to style himself "Tomás Portillo y Blanco", following a slightly antiquated and somewhat aristocratic use.

In Spain, if the father is either unknown or does not want to recognize his child, the newborn will take both surnames of the mother. Thus, if María López Sáenz has a child by an unknown father, and she wants to name her son José, he will be called José López Sáenz.

Occasionally, a person with a common paternal surname and an uncommon maternal surname becomes widely known by the maternal surname, as with the artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso, best known simply as "Picasso", or the poet Federico García Lorca, sometimes simply known as "Lorca", or even the Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, best known as "Zapatero". Nevertheless, this use is colloquial, and it is never used in a legal way. Conversely, Uruguayan writer Eduardo Hughes Galeano is known as "Galeano" because his paternal surname "Hughes" is completely foreign in Spanish. In his childhood he occasionally signed as "Eduardo Gius" as an approximate pronunciation of "Hughes".

Not every surname is a single word. Another combination of paternal and maternal surnames may propagate to the following generation as a double paternal surname, especially when the paternal surname alone would be considered "undistinguished". Another extreme example of this is former Madrid mayor José María Álvarez del Manzano y López del Hierro, whose name is formed by a compound forename (José María) and two compound surnames (Álvarez del Manzano and López del Hierro). Other double-barreled surnames derive from church names, as "San José". When a person has one of these double surnames, it is more common to use the 'y' between the paternal and maternal component parts.

[edit] Castile and Alava surnames

It was also common for surnames originating from Castile and Álava (Basque Country) to have the form "[patronymic] de [placename]". Hence for José Ignacio López de Arriortúa, "López de Arriortúa" is just one surname. This can cause confusion as both "López" and "de Arriortúa" can be found as single surnames.

[edit] The particle de

In Spain the nobility particle de is also used in two different styles. The first is a "patronymic-de-toponymic" formula.^[6], for example, Fernández de Córdoba, López de Ayala, Núñez de Balboa and many of the conquistadors^[7].

A less clear use of the particle de is when it is not preceded by the patronymic. This style is common among some noble surnames, but it is more ambiguous than in French, and exceptions are easily found. There is also no convention, as in French, for a different spelling when the de is simply a prepositional particle in names such as De la Rúa (literally, "of the street") or De la Torre ("of the tower").

• Examples of nobility particle de without patronymic: Álvaro de Bazán and Juan Carlos de Borbón. Unlike in French, no contraction is used when the surname starts with a vowel due to the rules of Spanish orthography and pronunciation.
• Exception: The current 1958 Spanish name law does not allow a person to add a de to their surname, with one notable exception. A de may be added in front of a surname that could be otherwise misunderstood as a forename.^[8] So, for example a person may be registered at birth with the name Pedro de Miguel Jiménez, to avoid having "Miguel" taken for a middle name.

Conclusive proof of the nobility of a surname can be determined by establishing whether that surname is associated with a blazon, since for centuries a coat of arms can only be legally borne by a person of noble condition^[9].

Finally, surnames composed of two words linked by a hypen ("-") do not indicate nobility. For example, Suarez-Llanos does not indicate nobility.

[edit] The particle "y"

Beginning in the 16th century, the Spanish custom of separating the two surnames with the copulative conjunction "y" (meaning "and") arose. Examples of this custom include names such as Luis de Góngora y Argote (16th- and 17th-century Andalusian writer), Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (18th- and 19th-century Aragonese painter) and José Ortega y Gasset (Madrilenian philosopher and essayist of the 20th century). The convention was used by Latin American clergymen, for example, Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez in El Salvador. This use gained legal sanction with the Ley de Registro Civil in 1870, which required birth certificates to indicate the two surnames joined with the particle "y". In this fashion, the birth certificates of Spanish politicians Felipe González Márquez and José María Aznar López appeared as "Felipe González y Márquez" and "José María Aznar y López". However it is less frequent than its Catalan version.

The particle "y" is often found useful in avoiding confusion when the first (paternal) surname is of a type that could also be a forename. For example, if the physiologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal had not used it, it might have appeared that he had the double-barreled forename Santiago Ramón and that Cajal was the only surname he used. Other examples of this use include the jurist Francisco Tomás y Valiente and the churchman Vicente Enrique y Tarancón. Examples of confusion when "y" is not used in such a case are the football player Martín Vázquez, whose full name is Rafael Martín Vázquez but who is believed by many fans to have Martín as his forename, and the linguist Fernando Lázaro Carreter, who was sometimes addressed (to his annoyance) as Don Lázaro.

In the case that the second surname starts with I (or vowel Y or Hi), the particle becomes e, following Spanish rules of euphony, as in Eduardo Dato e Iradier.

[edit] 'Son of' and '-ez'

Although the use of double surnames renders the matter far less common than in the English-speaking world, a man who has the same forename as his father may suffix his name with "(h)" (standing for "hijo", meaning "son"), analogously to the English language "Jr.".

In Spanish, most surnames ending in "-ez" originated as patronymics^{[citation needed]}. Thus "López" originally meant "son of Lope", "Fernández" meant "son of Fernando", "Ramírez" meant "son of Ramiro", "González" meant "son of Gonzalo", etc. Other common examples of this are "Hernández" (from Hernando, a variant of "Ferdinand" / "Fernando"), "Rodríguez" (from "Rodrigo"), "Sánchez" (from "Sancho"), "Martínez" (from "Martín"), and "Álvarez" (from "Álvaro"). Not all last names ending in -ez have this origin, however. Because the Spanish letter "z" is pronounced identically to the letter "s" in parts of Andalusia and in all of Spanish America (or about 90% of the Spanish-speaking world), one finds in Spanish America spellings such as "Chávez" (e.g. Hugo Chávez), and "Cortez" (e.g. Alberto Cortez), which are not patronymics and which traditionally were (and in Spain still are) always spelled "Chaves" (e.g. Manuel Chaves), and "Cortés" (e.g. "Hernán Cortés").

[edit] Foundlings

Foundlings presented a problem to registrars. Often they were given forenames from the saint of the day they were found, the patron saint of the town or even the name of the town itself. They were often given the surname Expósito ("Foundling", from Lat. exposĭtus, exposed), which marked them and their descendants as people without pedigree. In 1921 Spanish law allowed the surname Expósito to be changed free of charge.^[10]

More compassionately, one of the more common surnames was sometimes given. Foundlings were often named Iglesia(s) ("Church(es)") or Cruz (Cross) as most of them were raised in orphanages run by the Catholic Church. Blanco (White, in the sense of blank) was quite usual as well, as they had unknown parents. The foundlings born or found in the city of Bilbao were usually given the city's name itself, Bilbao, as first forename, a custom also found in other towns from Biscay and Alava; the second surname in those cases usually was the latter ones, Iglesia or Cruz.

[edit] Foreign citizens in Spain

Legal and illegal immigrants living in Spain keep their original naming system, but those who obtain Spanish nationality are obligated to acquire Spanish-style names (one or two names and two surnames). If they come from a country where only one legal surname exists, then their surname will be duplicated.^{[citation needed]} For example: An American citizen living in Spain named George Albert Johnson will be named George Albert Johnson while he's living in Spain, but if he acquires Spanish nationality his name will be George Albert Johnson Johnson, with an option to choose his mother's maiden name. George Albert are considered to be his names (middle name doesn't exist in Spain but people could have two names) with Johnson as his first surname and Johnson as his second surname.

[edit] Hypocoristics and nicknames

Many Spanish names can be shortened into hypocoristic forms using a diminutive suffix, especially -(c)ito/a. Sometimes longer than the original name, nicknames, some seemingly arbitrary, have derivations which may be explained by linguistic rules^[11]. The use of each of these forms varies a lot between countries and regions, to the point that some of them are very common in some countries and unheard of in some other countries. A list of common (and not so common) names and their shortened forms or nicknames:

Adelina = Deli Adelaida = Ade, Adela Adrián (Male) or Adriana (Female) = Adri Alberto = Alber, Albertito, Beto, Berto, Tico, Tuco Alejandro = Ale, Alex, Alejo, Jandro, Jano, Sandro Alejandra = Sandra, Ale, Alex, Aleja, Jandra, Jana Alfonso = Alfon, Fon, Fonso, Fonsi, Poncho Alicia = Ali, Licha Anacleto = Cleto Antonio = Antón, Tonio, Toni, Tono, Toño, Toñin, Antoñito, Antuco, Antuquito Antonia = Toña, Tona, Toñi, Tonia, Tania, Antoñita Arturo = Arturito, Turito, Art Beatriz = Bea, Betty Cándido/a = Candi Carla = Carlita Carlos = Car, Carlito, Carlitos, Carlo, Calín, Litos, Chepe Carmen = Mamen, Carmenchu, Menchu, Carmencha, Carmencita, Carmelita, Carmela, Carmina Carolina = Caro, Carol, Carito Cecilia = Ceci, Chila Celestino = Tino César = Cesi, Cesa, Checha, Cesito Charles = Carles Ciro = Cirino Claudia = Clau, Claudi Concepción = Conchi, Conchita, Concha, Conce Consuelo = Consu, Chelo, Coni, Concha Covadonga = Cova, Cobi Cristian = Cris Cristina = Cris, Cristi, Tina Cristóforo = Cuco, Chosto Cruz = Crucita, Chuz Dalila = Lila Dalia = Dali Daniel = Dani David = Davo Dolores = Lola, Loles, Loli, Lolita Eduardo = Edu, Lalo, Eduardito, Guayo Enrique = Quique, Kike Ernesto = Neto, Netico, Tito Esperanza = Espe, Pera, Lancha Eugenia = Genita Eugenio = Genín, Genito Eva = Evita Federico = Quico, Fede Felícita = Felacha Fernanda = Fer, Nanda Fernando = Fer, Nando, Nano, Ferny, Feña Francisco = Fran, Paco, Sisco, Cisco, Curro, Quico, Kiko, Frasco, Frascuelo, Pacho, Pancho, Panchito Francisca = Fran, Paqui, Paquita, Sisca, Cisca, Pancha, Curra, Paca, Quica, Panchita, Panchi Gabriel = Gabi, Gabo, Gabri Gabriela = Gaba, Gabi, Gaby Gerardo = Yayo Gonzalo = Gonza, Gon, Gonchi, Lalo, Chalo, Talo, Tali Graciela = Chela Gregorio = Goyo Gricelda = Gris, Celda Guadalupe = Lupe (female & male), Guada, Pupe, Lupita, Lupilla (female) & Lupito, Lupillo (male), Pita (female) Guillermo = Guille, Guiller, Willy, Meme, Momo, Memo Héctor = Tito, Torin Ignacia = Nacha Ignacio = Nacho, Nachito, Naco Inocencio = Chencho Isabel = Chabela, Chavela, Chavelita, Chabelita, Isa Javier = Javi, Jabo, Javito Jorge = Jorgecito, Jorgis, Jordi, Jorgito, Gorge, Jecito Jesús = Jesu, Chus, Chucho, Chuy, Suso, Chuyito Jesús Alberto = Jesusbeto, Chuybeto Jesus María = Chumari, Chusma Jesús Manuel = Jesusma Jesús Ramón = Jerra, Jesusrra, Chuymoncho, Chuymonchi Jesusa = Susi, Sus, Chusa, Chucha, Chuy, Chuyita José = Pepe, Chepe, Pepito, Chepito, Pito José Carlos = Joseca José Luis = Joselo José Miguel = Josemi, Jomi Josefina = Jose, Fina, Chepina, Chepita José María = Chema, Jose Mari José Ramón = Jesusra, Peperamon, Joserra Juan = Juanito, Juancho, Juanelo Juan Carlos = Juanca, Juancar, Juanqui Juan Ernesto = Juaner Juan Fernando = Juanfer Juan Javier = Juanja Juan Manuel = Juanma

Juan Miguel = Juangui, Juanmi Juan Pablo = Juanpa, Juanpi, Juanpis Juan Ramón = Juanra Julio = Julín, Julito Laura = Lalita, Lala, Lauri, Lauris, Lau Leticia = Leti Lourdes = Lulú Lucía = Lucy Luciano = Chano Luis = Lucho, Luisito, Güicho, Luisín Magdalena = Magda, Malena, Lena Manuel = Manu, Manolo, Lolo, Manolito, Meño, Manuelito Marcelo = Chelo, Marce Margarita = Marga, Magui María Aurora = Marora María Auxiliadora = Chilo, Mauxi, Mausi María de la Luz = Mariluz María de Lourdes = Malula, Marilú María del Carmen = Maricarmen, Mamen, Mai, Maica, Mayca, Mayka, Mamen, Mari María del Rosario = Charo, Charito María del Sol/María de la Soledad = Marisol, Sol, Sole María de las Nieves = Marinieves María Eugenia = Maru, Yeni, Kena, Kenita María Elena = Malena, Marilena María Fernanda = Mafe María Isabel = Maribel, Mabel, Marisabel, Marisa María José = Mariajo, Majo, Mai, Josefa, Marijó, Pepa, Pepi, Pepita, Maripepa, Maripepi, Marijose, Jose María Laura = Malala María Luisa = Marisa, Mariluisa María Teresa = Tere, Maritere, Maite, Mayte, Teté, Mari Mario = Mayito Mauricio = Mau, Mauro, Mauri Máximo = Maxi, Max, Maximino Mayola = May Mercedes = Merce, Merche, Meche, Meches, Mechas Micaela = Mica Minerva = Mine, Miner Montserrat = Montse Myriam = Myri, Miriam, Miry Nicolás = Nico Oriana = Ori, Nana, Nanita, Ana, Anita Pablo = Pablito, Pablete Paloma = Palo Paula = Pau Paulina = Pau, Pauli Paola = Pao Patricia = Patri, Tricia, Pato Patricio = Pato, Patric Pedro = Pedrito, Perico Pilar = Pili, Pilarín, Piluca Rafael = Rafa, Rafi, Rafo Ramón = Mon, Moncho, Monchi, Ramoncito Raúl = Rauli, Raulito, Rul, Rulo, Rule, Ral, Rali Refugio = Cuca, Cuquita Remedios = Reme Rodrigo = Rodri, Ruy, Roy, Ro Roberto = Robe, Rober, Berto, Robertito, Tito, Beto Rosalía = Chalia Rosalva = Chava Rosario = Charo, Chayo, Chayito Rocío = Roci, Chio, Ro Salvador = Salva, Chava, Chavito Santiago = Santi, Yago, Diejo, Chago, Tiago Sergio = Chucho, Checo, Chejo, Checho, Sergi Soledad = Sol, Sole, Chole, Chol Susana = Susi, Sus, Su Teresa = Tere, Teresita Timoteo = Timo, Teín Tomás = Tomasito, Tomasín, Tomy Valentina = Val, Vale, Tina, Tinita, Valentinita Vicente = Chente, Vicen, Bicho Victor, Victorio = Vic, Vis, Vico Victoria = Vico, Viqui, Viky, Vicky Verónica = Vero, Verito

[edit] Other languages in Spain

After the recognition of co-official languages in Spain, the law allowed the translation or respelling of names to the official languages. Speakers of other languages in Spain whose names had been rendered as Spanish equivalents and who now wish to return to their vernacular name, enjoy a simplified name-change procedure in their respective autonomous community.

[edit] Catalan names

In the Catalan language territories they have the same conventions as in Spanish territories, except that a person's two surnames are sometimes separated by "i" ("and"). A real-world example would be the ex-president of the Generalitat de Catalunya Pasqual Maragall i Mira.

The reason of separated the two surnames by "i" ("and") is because is the correct form to write it in catalan. According to Article 19.1 of Law 1/1998 of language policy, "the citizens of Catalonia have the right to use the proper regulation of their Catalan names and surnames and to introduce the conjunction between surnames".

Correction, translation and change of surnames and name, is regulated in terms of legal regulation by the Civil Registry and the Decree 138/2007 of 26 June, modifying Decree 208/1998 of 30 July, which regulates the accreditation of the linguistic correctness of names.

That Decree 138/2007 of 26 July, the function attributed solely to issue the certificates of correction of language names in Catalan Institut d'Estudis Catalans (in English Institute of Catalan Studies).

There are some Catalan surnames that does not conform to the current or correct Catalan spelling rules, and you can provide a certificate issued by Institut d'Estudis Catalans for the correction. For example, you can change:^[12]

• Piñol to Pinyol
• Farré to Ferrer
• Gabarra to Gavarró
• Casas to Cases
• Perpiñá to Perpinyà
• Jufré to Jofré
• Pijuan to Pijoan
• Roselló to Rosselló

[edit] Hypocoristics and nicknames

Many Catalan names can be shortened into hypocoristic forms using just the last part of the name, not as Spanish names that usually use the first part, or using a diminutive suffix. Some shortened catalan names are:

Francesc = Cesc Montserrat = Serrat, Montse Joaquim = Quim, Ximo Joaquima = Quima Maria = Mariona Mariona = Ona Eulàlia = Laia Antoni = Toni Meritxell = Txell Núria = Nuri

Josep = Pep Josefina = Fina, Fineta Narcís = Narciset, Ciset Concepció = Ció Isabel = Bel Vicent = Vicentó, Cento Manel = Nelo Dolors = Dolo Madgalena = Magda

[edit] "Mohamed"

As the map above shows, Mohamed is a very frequent surname in Ceuta (10,410^[13] out of the people born in Ceuta) and Melilla (7,982^[13]), the Spanish enclaves in North Africa. "Mohamed" is one of the Spanish spellings used by Spanish-speaking Muslims for the name of prophet Muhammad. As such, it is frequent as part of a male Arabic name. Hence, many Muslim Ceutans and Melillans share surnames while not having a common ancestry. To further confuse the issue, Mohamed is the most popular first name for newborn males,^[14] so it is not unusual to have a Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed: the first "Mohamed" being the child's name forename, the second is the father's first surname, and the third is the mother's first surname. ^[15]

[edit] Naming system in Latin America

[edit] Caribbean

Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and other Latin-American countries with proximity to the Caribbean—have taken the custom of names from foreign languages, such as "Yesaidú" ("Yes, I do") or "Adonis", or composites such as "Yolimar" (from the combination of the names of each of the parents: "Yolanda" and "Mario"), or "Glorimar" (the combination of maternal family such as mother and grandmother "Gloria" and "Maria"), or "Luyen" (from the combination of "Lucía" and "Enrique") ^[16][17].

In August 2007, the law draft for the National Electoral Council of Venezuela disallowed names that "ridicule", are "extravagant", "difficult to pronounce" or inductive to gender confusion^[18]. After protests, the limiting article was removed from the draft^[19].

[edit] Argentina

Argentina is a Spanish-speaking country, but most Argentines' identity is recorded at birth with only their paternal surname. Thus, one would only occasionally hear Jorge Luis Borges referred to as "Jorge Luis Borges Acevedo", although a native Spanish speaker would certainly understand that usage. On the other hand, in some countries, such as Honduras, two surnames are required to be recorded on the birth certificate. This can cause difficulties in cases where the father's identity is unknown, or for immigrants who only have one surname. Culturally, in Argentina, children will often be named with two common names that sometimes are contrasting to each other, that when combined appear to have a prolonged effect when pronounced, such as 'Juan Román' with a correct accentuated pronunciation of each name; this contrasts with the pronunciation in the northernmost part of South America, where it would sound single worded as 'JuanRoman'^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] The particle "de"

In some, but not all, Latin American countries, when a woman marries, she may choose to drop her own maternal surname and adopt her husband's paternal surname, with "de" ("of") inserted between. Thus if Ángela López Sáenz marries Tomás Portillo Blanco, she may style herself Ángela López de Portillo. This convention, however, is more a social styling than an official renaming such as takes place in English-speaking countries: on official documents, she will still be identified by her two maiden surnames. In many areas, however, this tradition is now seen as an antiquated form of discrimination against women (the de can be read as implying ownership) and is consequently on the decline. A more formal version is Ángela López, Sra. de Portillo ("Sra." is an abbreviation for señora: "Mrs.", "wife"). Another traditional usage is when a husband dies, the widow is now known as Ángela López Sáenz, vda. de Portillo (widow of - vda is the abbreviation for widow [viuda])

However, in Latin American countries the rule is reversed: it is still widely accepted that a woman starts using a "de" and her husband's first surname when she marries, instead of her maiden surname.

Customs differ to some extent from one country to another. For example, the second and third wives of the Argentinean President Juan Perón were usually known as Eva Perón (Evita) and Isabel Perón (Isabelita); they were politically important women, and the Perón "brand-name" was "valuable", hence the exception of using the surname even without a "de".

[edit] Spanish surnames among Filipinos

On November 21, 1849 the Spanish administration of the Philippines, under the authority of Governor General Narciso Clavería, decreed a systematic distribution of family names and the implementation of the Spanish naming system for the use of the natives.

With the Clavería decree the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos ("Alphabetical Catalogue of Surnames") was produced. It was a collection of words and names mostly from Spain, though many were also native Filipino words of flora and fauna, and Hispanicized Chinese numerals; which is why so many Spanish-sounding surnames found among Filipinos cannot be found among the peoples of the Hispanic world, as many are merely Hispanic in sound. Many Spanish-sounding Filipino surnames also appeared in Spain and Hispanic America by Filipino immigration.

Surnames of Spanish nobility, as well as surnames belonging to the Spanish colonial administrators in the Philippines (which had acquired connotation of prestige in the archipelago) were explicitly prohibited.

The colonial authorities implemented this decree mainly because too many early Christianized Filipinos named themselves after religious instruments and saints. Apparently, Christianization had worked much too well in that there were soon too many people surnamed "de los Santos", "de la Cruz", "del Rosario", "Bautista", etc. This caused consternation among the Spanish authorities, as it added difficulty to administration efforts.

Another custom deemed unacceptable by the Spanish, was that Filipino siblings took different last names, as they always had done before the Spaniards. All these practices led to difficulties in collecting taxes.

Because of the mass implementation of Spanish surnames and the Iberian naming system in the Philippines, among Filipinos a Spanish surname does not necessarily indicate Spanish ancestry. Filipinos with non-Spanish white American or European ancestry may have Spanish surnames and may be mistakenly thought to be of Spanish descent. Of the Philippine population, only a minority of 3.5% are of pure or mixed European ancestry.

[edit] See also

• Nobility particle
• List of personal naming conventions (for other languages)
• Name for general coverage of the topic
• Portuguese names
• French names

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Hispanic Heraldry (in Spanish) – Information about Hispanic surnames.
• Nombres de Niñas (in Spanish) – List of names in Spanish, with list of most popular names.
• Catalan Society of Heraldry (in Catalan) – Information about Catalan surnames.
• Territorial distribution of surnames (Data from the Register on 1 January 2006) and several Excel tables about name and surname distribution by age and province, from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain).

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