Re: OT: Anthroponymics

On 10/19/05, Carsten Becker <naranoieati@...> wrote:
<SNIP>
> As Jörg said, when you've got several first names, you can
> choose by which one you want to go. For example, Friedrich
> Schiller was actually Johann Christoph Friedrich von
> Schiller.
In Brazil, there is a tendency to pick which surname you want to use.
People tend to pick the last common of their two surnames. I myself am
João Ricardo de Mendonça Oliveira, but I don't care much about the
Oliveira. :-)

<SNIP
> Another curious fact is that especially in Catholic regions,
> men usually have Maria as a second first name: E.g. the full
> name of my godmother's husband is Michael Maria Lamsfuhs,
> their son is called Lucas Maria Lamsfuhs.
Indeed. Brazilian writer Machado de Assis' full name was José Maria
Machado de Assis. The opposite is also true: I have an aunt called
Maria José.

João Ricardo de Mendonça