Why spanish names are so long

And the ordering of these names is not something that has been left to the parents to decide. And since , an additional law states that each child can choose the order of their names upon turning 18 years old. Where Spain perhaps breaks with the tradition is in terms of the convention surrounding name changes in the cases of marriage. Although most Spanish people have two surnames, the custom is for them to only be referred by one of them when being addressed in everyday life.

This custom and the fact that most Spanish people have two surnames can sometimes lead to confusion in situations where people or companies that are not used to this system attempt to alphabetize names.

The mistake made most frequently is to assume that the name that appears at the very end of the full name is the surname and to refer to that person by that name alone. In our example from above, Anna would be used to someone referring to her as Sra.

So there we have it, what can seem complicated at first glance actually makes perfect sense when you understand the logic behind it. This specially true for women. This is why most women use the other first name or a nickname.

The first name will tell you the sex of the person. Well, as names are very long, people use nicknames pretty much like Liz isto Elisabeth, Bob is to Robert or Bill is to William. It is suprising the number of Spanish surnames end in ez. This is because it means " son of ", like the suffix -son and -sen in many German and Scandinavian languages.

In Portuguese the -ez becomes a -es. For the Whole Family. Genealogy Research. Heritage and History. News and Events. Personal History. About the Author. I later understood from talking to peers that the uncomfortable comments and misuse of my surnames were a form of microaggression, perhaps unconscious, and that I was not the only Hispanic experiencing it.

Names are important. We use them to identify ourselves and they become part of our identity. Thus, as important as it is to pronounce names correctly, it is equally important to write and use them correctly.

On the other hand, its misuse could have the contrary effect where we feel less welcomed. As a Latina in higher education and in engineering, a predominantly White-male dominated field, I realized that my two surnames were more than just that. My surnames give a sense of my identity, history, and cultural roots.