Spanish speakers have only one last name
Spanish speakers have only one last name
12 Answers
Here it is plain and simple, My girlfriend Lives in Guatemala, her full name is Lidia Belencita Escobar Chavez. Her fathers last name is Escobar and her mothers last name is Chavez. The Wife takes the Husbands last name at marriage and the child takes both the fathers name and the mothers name and in that order. If you look at her parents they are Chavez Escobars and if with her she is a Escobar Chavez. I hope that this makes it easier!
Jonathan
Así es. Además, si Amaia Ortega Goitia se casara con José Luís Fonseca, su nombre se convertiría en Amaia Ortega Goitia de Fonseca. Y aunque ya estuviera casada y la buscaras por el directorio telefónico, aún tendrías que buscar a Amaia Ortega Goitia.
That's right. And if Amaia Ortega Goitia were to marry José Luís Fonseca, her name would become Amaia Ortega Goitia de Fonseca. And although she were now married and you were to look for her in the phone book, you would still have to look for Amaia Ortega Goitia.
Families in Spain use the male surname first, then the female surname. My friends name is Amaia Ortega Goitia. Ortega being her fathers last name, and Goitia, her mothers.
I have two given names (both are originally surnames) and one "last" name. Since all three of my names appear to be surnames, there is often confusion in the doctor's office. The doctor sees my name on the data sheet and assumes that I have two last names. She then addresses me as Señor Middlename. She may also address me as Don Firstname. On the forms that I fill out for whatever appointment or contract, there is a space for apellidos (note that it is plural). I don't even bother to try to correct the situation. It would only lead to confusion.
The first surname is thought to be the "family name", so it is used to address someone.
I have also found that often people address each other by both first and last names. I mean that when I see my friend, I might say, "buenos días, Juan Gómez", even though I might be a close friend.
I'm in the hotel industry and researching guest information based on their "last names".......es un tremendo lío.
The guest database has: Salutation;,First Name:, Middle name:, Last Name:, Generation:, Honorific.
As you all know, different cultures will put different things in each of those blanks.
In Argentina most of people have one last name but usually from Old families can have 2 or more.
All of these comments simply serve to demonstrate the foolish/parochial nature of the English term "last name". If a person's full name is spoken/written there can be but one "last" name (the one that you say/write last). Please call them "family names". With that terminology, it is perfectly reasonable for a person to have two family names (one for the person's father's family and one for the mother's) It is also reasonable (in those societies where a woman is thought to marry into her husband's family [or, less frequently, vice versa]) for a person to have a single family name.
As I pointed out in another post on this topic, in many Asian countries, the standard order for speaking/writing names puts the family name first (followed by the given name[s]). Using terms such as "first" and "last" name can only serve to increase the confusion (unless it is done within the context of some particular society).
Esto de los nombres hispanos es algo curioso. Yo en mi caso, tengo primero y segundo nombres, además de dos apellidos, el primero el de mi padre y el segundo, el de mi madre. Y esto crea mucha confusión en América donde las personas sólo tienen un apellido. El nombre de un hijo en los Estados Unidos oculta a la madre. Como caso curioso, en Portugal, las personas igualmente llevan dos apellidos, sin embargo, el primero es el de la madre y el segundo el del padre.
Todo esto a manera de información, no vale la pena entrar en discusiones sobre el particular, ya que este foro no ha sido diseñado para tal efecto.
Además, si Amaia Ortega Goitia se casara con José Luís Fonseca, su nombre se convertiría en Amaia Ortega Goitia de Fonseca.
Her name does not convert or change to anything, a woman in Spain keeps her own name, before and after being married.
You can hear: la Señora de Gonzalez.
But this is not her name, it is a given name and more of an indication that this woman is married than anything else.
Originally posted by JulianChivis: Así es. Además, si Amaia Ortega Goitia se casara con José Luís Fonseca, su nombre se convertiría en Amaia Ortega Goitia de Fonseca. Y aunque ya estuviera casada y la buscaras por el directorio telefónico, aún tendrías que buscar a Amaia Ortega Goitia.
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Yo casi ya escucho el... de Fulano de tal por estos lados. Suena como si la mujer fuera una posesión más que una pareja, una compañera de la vida, una amante, whatever... Supongo depende de los lugares y las costumbres y la cultura de cada país o región...
Arturo Pérez Reverte, Vicente Solano Lima, Félix Rubén García Sarmiento, Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro and a few million of people have 2 or more last names.
It is indeed correct but not only in Spain but also in Mexico and a lot of latin countries adopt that tradition. Like I met a couple who the wife is from Venezuela and he is from Cuba and she kept her Maiden name from her Dad and he kept his last name from his family... very current... 
