Re: Offlist: Re: Anthroponymics -- Brazilians have more than one surname? How are they assigned?
| From: | João Ricardo de Mendonça <somnicorvus@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Thursday, October 27, 2005, 4:28 |
|---|
On 10/26/05, Tom Chappell <tomhchappell@...> wrote:
> You're welcome, Joao. I hope it was not /too/ voluminous.
>
> In a later post you said that a Brazilian will choose the least common of
> his (IIRC two) surnames.
>
> How do Brazilians get their surnames? Why do they have two or more?
>
Tom, I am aware that most Latin Americans use some sort of complicated
system as you described below, but I am not sure on its details.
Brazilians don't follow this tradition. We use given name + mother's
surname + father's surname. Some parents opt to pass along the
father's surname only, but I believe this is not the most usual.
I understand that in US, Canada and Europe it is not usual for
children to receive their mother's surname. Is this correct?
João Ricardo de Mendonça
Replies