Constructure of Chile name

I have heard that Chile's family name is combined with father' name and mother's .

I just don't understand it.

Won't that be a longer and longer name as the generation goes?

Can someone help me with it?

The way surnames are assigned in all Latin America except in Brazil where there is a little difference, is very simple, Latinamericans has two surnames, the first one is the father's first surname and the second one is the first mother's surname so for example if a woman named Sandra Gonzalez got married to a guy named Edgar Rodriguez all their kids surnames will be Rodriguez Gonzalez. In Brazil the order is inverted, the first one is the mother's first surname and the second one is the father's first surname. I've seen in English countries they use only the father's surname and the wife changes his surname by his husband surname.

And in Portugal it is very common (over 80%) for people to have up to 6 names, two personal names and four family names (like I do).
A boy can be called by his two christian names, like Pedro Manuel, and have 2 surnames from his mother and 2 from his father.

The origin of this tradition was for people (in the small town or village where you were born) to know who your ancestors were; it was not enough to know how your parents were; it was also important to know who your grandparents were.

Therefore, Pedro Manuel, the son of Maria Lopes Rodrigues and José da Silva Medeiros can have a name like

Pedro Manuel Lopes Rodrigues da Silva Medeiros

however this is not a strict rule, just a tradition or use that most people follow; the law requires only that a newborn must have a personal name (1 or 2, but no more than 2) and his/her father name.

So Pedro could be as short has Pedro Medeiros

or Pedro Manuel Medeiros

or Pedro Lopes Medeiros

etc

the minimum the law requires is 2 names and the maximum allowed is usually 6 names.

That's a beautiful tradition, if all those surnames are kept in legal documents it would be much easier to follow the line to your ancestors.

I've heard people claim that this way is fairer to both the mother and the father, but I don't agree. This is I still feel is ultimately patriarchal.

Let's pretend a couple is named Sergio Lopez Cordera and Vanessa Perez Echevarria. The first last name is the name of the father and the second is that of the motehr.

Now a child is born and is given Lopez (the name of her father's father) Perez (the name of her mother's father) - only the names of the mother's father and the father's father has been passed on.

You know, I just have two names -- first and last -- and that's plenty. Six would be a little out of control for me!

I think in all fairness, if I have kids, they're getting MY last name, not their father's -- after all, I did the dirty work!

<<I've heard people claim that this way is fairer to both the mother and the father, but I don't agree. This is I still feel is ultimately patriarchal. >>

Maybe, but a very patriarchal way, if I'm not wrong, is in countries like US where the wife's surname is not used at all and even she acquires his husband's surname and their offsprings as well. I found it strange when I knew that, it seems like the wife becomes her husband's sister. In Latin America Vanessa Perez Echevarria always in any legal document will be Vanessa Perez Echevarria. In Brazil the mother's surname goes at first.

How does it work in other countries ?

In the US and Canada, you can choose whether or not you want to change your name. You are not required to make any change if you do not wish to. I know many, many couples that have done this. I know a family that chose to all take the wife's name, including the children. I also know a family where they chose an entirely new name - not related to the mother's or father's name. I also know several families that have changed their names to reflect both the mother patriarchal lineage and father's patriarchal lineage, as is traditional in the Latin American countries.

So yes, even here, Jane Smith can be Jane Smith forever, and will be unless she petitions the court for a change. Last name does not automatically change after you get married. You have to request a change of name.

Having the choice, I'd say, is ultimately better than say Italy where no one can change their name except under extreme circumstances (an embarrasing name) and the children automatically take on the name of the known father.

Captain Barbosa did point out that not everyone follows this procedure/tradition.
I have four names, two first and my last name is my fathers but the other part is my great grandmothers name.
So you can see that it isn't a strict rule.It realy does depend were you come from.

(And in Portugal it is very common (over 80%) for people to have up to 6 names, two personal names and four family names (like I do).)

I don't think that it is 80% of the population, just as long as you are represented by one name from each side of the family your fine and even then I know of people that have only two names, first and surname.

I think I read somewhere (BBC News?) that in Germany, a married couple MUST legally take a single last name -- doesn't matter which, but usually the man's, of course. The reason the article mentioned this was because the law was also being applied to gay couples who were getting legally married -- they had to pick one of the partners' names to both take!

As far as I know, there are 3 main european/western systems of transmiting a family name to a newborn: matrilineal, patrilineal and the "son-of" system (like in Iceland).

A person can only transmit one surname (if more than one, it would be a composite name, but that would only last one generation). It can be the name of the mother or the father, but you have to choose.

Clearly in large societies, with millions of families, you must have a rational system of family name transmition. The vast majority of nations use the patrilineal system due to social/historical reasons.

If someone was to change that for the mother name, that would just substitute an "injust" system for another. So, why change?

The other system, the icelandic/nordic/slavic "son-of" only works in (very) small societies or communities. If that was the use of large societies, soon we would run out of names or large numbers of men and women would have the same last names (John-son, Peter-son, Mary-son, Kelly-son, Patricia-daughter, Bill-daughter etc). Lets face it: in this last case we would all sound like peasants living in a village...

Does anyone here know of any other systems, besides these, or have any sugestion? Family names must have a rational transmition from generation to generation, must be numerous and varied and be easy to track in records.

Even if transmiting only the father name (or the mother's) to the next generation seems unfair, I cannot see any other way of naming people (well, maybe I can, but not as practical as being given the father's name).

Ex. Roberto Martinez Gonzales + Maria Perez Mendez = Juan Martinez Mendez, BUT, and I must stress this, ONLY if the nastalgia has overcome you.

Ok, ok Georgey,Gioregeo you win, what's the matter with your "NASTALGIA", tell us please.

No, don't; we don't really care.

"I think in all fairness, if I have kids, they're getting MY last name, not their father's -- after all, I did the dirty work! "

You know what's funny Uriel? Both my brother and I, who are of different fathers, adopted our mother's surname when we were old enough to decide, as both our fathers were underserving of bequeathing their name to us in our opinons. My brother is a grown man, and I however, am not. So, I must wait until I am 18 before I can legally change my name. For all intensive purposes though, I use my mother's surname.

I guess my mom just didn't have a knack for picking men! lol