Surnames in other languages

[pinefamily]

As far as I am aware, Spanish and Portuguese tradition gives the mother's and grandmother's surnames as middle names for girls. I'm not sure how the boy's names are done.

[Erato]

They aren't middle names; they are surnames.  Both Spanish and Portuguese use double-barreled surnames.  In Spanish, the paternal surname comes first and in Portuguese, it is the maternal surname that is first.

For example, in Spanish, the son of Juan López García and María Moreno Rodríguez will be Carlos López Moreno.

[pinefamily]

Thanks for explaining that Erato.

[Erato]

You can readily see how this is very useful for genealogical purposes.  On the other hand, it is a damned pain in the butt if you're a foreigner with only one surname because, no matter how many times you tell them that, they insist on inventing some second surname.  Usually your middle name winds up being taken as your paternal surname.  And that means you are listed under an entirely false name [which, admittedly, can sometimes be handy because it means that the surname in your passport does not match your name on the list of people who are behind on their taxes].

[Sloe Gin]

What do they do about people like me who only have one forename? 

[Skoosh]

Very good Erato, crazy, but very good! 

Skoosh.

[Billyblue]

I was told once, by an Australian-born Vietnamese person, that Nguyen is the equivalent of Smith.

Dawn M

[maggbill]

And for me, who has done years of my Scottish/Irish ancestry, looking forward to future generations of my now Australian family - I wonder at the complexity of it all.

Immediate future possible generations - a mix of Scottish/Irish/German/English/Italian/Polish/Filippino… heavens running out of breath - and that is just without the inevitable modern issue of second marriages, split families, half siblings etc. etc....  !!!!!!

[pinefamily]

I was told once, by an Australian-born Vietnamese person, that Nguyen is the equivalent of Smith.

Dawn M

I have been told that too, Dawn.
Pronunciation is interesting. I've heard native speakers pronounce it two ways: Noiyen, and NeWIN.