Spanish people normally have 4 or more names, does anyone know what each name represents?

Question

For my spanish class we are trying to find out what each part of the name is...like which comes from the mother's side and which from the fathers side.

Answer 1

The first name is the name they ordinarily go by, like our first names.
The next name is after their christian patron saint. (most are Catholic)
They may have more than one patron saint. either assigned at birth or in connection with some significant life event.
The next name is their father's name.
The next name is their mother's maiden name.

Answer 2

Since I'm from Spain, I'm going to answer about the part I know, the Spain way of "naming".

The most common thing you can find is this, for example:
Maria - Robles - Cantero
Name - Father 1st Surname - Mother 1st Surname

When we marry in Spain we don't take the husband's surname, so there is no "maiden" name for women as in other countries.

So basically everybody has 1 name (or sometimes 2, as in Maria Dolores for girls or Jose Manuel for boys) then the Father's 1st surname and then the Mother's 1st surname.

So in our example, Maria's 1st surname is exactly the same 1st surname as his father and his grandfather and any male in that line.

I'm a girl, so my mom's 1st surname will get lost once I have baby, because then my husband will give the baby its 1st surname, and I will give my 1st surname too (that it's my dad's 1st surname).

Hope this was useful, and not too much hard to understand.

Answer 3

In order
First Name (usually the name of an important family member)
Middle Name(usually the name they will go by)
Last Name(Fathers last name is carried to the next generation)
De Sur Name(Mothers Maiden name not carried over)

Ex
Roberto German Castro de Laniez

Answer 4

In most Spanish-speaking countries, the father's surname is written before the mother's surname (although there are occasional exceptions to this rule). If José Santos Almeida and Maria Abreu Melo had a daughter, her name could simply be Joana Melo Almeida (given name + mother's last name + father's last name). However, they could very well give her two given names, for example Joana Madalena and combine their surnames in various ways, such has Joana Madalena Melo Almeida, Joana Madalena Abreu Melo Almeida (two surnames from the mother, one from the father), Joana Madalena Abreu Santos Almeida (one name from the mother, two from the father) or even Joana Madalena Abreu Melo Santos Almeida (two names from each parent). This child will probably become known by her final surname, in this case Joana Almeida.

However, her parents could decide to change the order of surnames and name her Joana Almeida Melo and so on. In this case she would probably become known by Joana Melo.

Answer 5

We usually have a first and second name, like Juan Jose or Luis Carlos. They're just names. But we usually use both our father's last name and after that our mother's maiden name. If a person is called Luis Alberto Diaz Gonzalez, it means that his father's last name is Diaz, while his mother's maiden name (surname) is Gonzalez.

Answer 6

Given Name, Christian Name (at Baptism), Surname, Mother's Maiden Name

Answer 7

The names in the full name that non-spanish decended people might consider "extra" are family names tracing back on the maternal side of the family.

Answer 8

They all come from the mother's side. It is a traditionally matrilineal naming device though immigrants here tend to convert to the patriarchal naming we have where the kids (and usually wife) take the husband/father's name.

Answer 9

In spanish, people have 3 names (really, we've 5 of them, but we only use 3 of them).

For example, my name's David Rodríguez Hernández.

David is my name.
Rodríguez is my first surname and the first surname of my father.
Hernández is my second surname and the first surname of my mother.

I can extend my name to: David Rodríguez Hernández Álvarez Ramos (with the second surname of my parents), but is not usual.

Answer 10

The child always keeps the mother's maiden name.