Editing Surname (section)

=== Portuguese-speaking countries ===
{{Main|Portuguese name}}

In Portuguese naming customs, the main surname (the one used in alpha sorting, indexing, abbreviations, and greetings), appears last.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Each person usually has two family names: though the law specifies no order, the first one is usually the maternal family name and the last one is commonly the paternal family name. In Portugal, a person's full name has a minimum legal length of two names (one given name and one family name from either parent) and a maximum of six names (two first names and four surnames – he or she may have up to four surnames in any order desired picked up from the total of his/her parents and grandparents' surnames). The use of any surname outside this lot, or of more than six names, is legally possible, but it requires dealing with bureaucracy. Parents or the person him/herself must explain the claims they have to bear that surname (a family nickname, a rare surname lost in past generations, or any other reason one may find suitable). In Brazil, there is no limit of surnames used.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

In the Portuguese tradition, the mother's surname usually comes first, followed by the father's surname. A woman may adopt her husband's {{as written|surname(s)}}, but nevertheless, she usually keeps her birth name or at least the last one. Since 1977 in Portugal and 2012 in Brazil, a husband can also adopt his wife's surname. When this happens, usually both spouses change their name after marriage.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The custom of a woman changing her name upon marriage is recent. It spread in the late 19th century in the upper classes, under French influence, and in the 20th century, particularly during the 1930s and 1940, it became socially almost obligatory. Nowadays, fewer women adopt, even officially, their husbands' names, and among those who do so officially, it is quite common not to use it either in their professional or informal life.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

The children usually bear only the last surnames of the parents (i.e., the paternal surname of each of their parents). For example, ''Carlos da Silva Gonçalves'' and ''Ana Luísa de Albuquerque Pereira (Gonçalves)'' (in case she adopted her husband's name after marriage) would have a child named ''Lucas Pereira Gonçalves''. However, the child may have any other combination of the parents' surnames, according to [[euphony]], social significance, or other reasons. For example, is not uncommon for the firstborn male to be given the father's full name followed by "Júnior" or "Filho" (son), and the next generation's firstborn male to be given the grandfather's name followed by "Neto" (grandson). Hence ''Carlos da Silva Gonçalves'' might choose to name his first born son ''Carlos da Silva Gonçalves Júnior'', who in turn might name his first born son ''Carlos da Silva Gonçalves Neto'', in which case none of the mother's family names are passed on.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

{{chart/start|align=center|summary=An example family tree}}
{{chart|||CSG|e|ALAP|||CSG=Carlos '''da Silva {{font color|red|Gonçalves}}'''|ALAP=Ana Luísa '''de Albuquerque {{font color|blue|Pereira}}'''|}}
{{chart||||||!|||||||}}
{{chart|||||LPG||||||LPG=Lucas '''{{font color|blue|Pereira}} {{font color|red|Gonçalves}}'''|}}
{{chart/end}}

In ancient times a patronymic was commonly used – surnames like ''Gonçalves'' ("son of ''Gonçalo''"), ''Fernandes'' ("son of ''Fernando''"), ''Nunes'' ("son of ''Nuno''"), ''Soares'' ("son of ''Soeiro''"), ''Sanches'' ("son of ''Sancho''"), ''Henriques'' ("son of ''Henrique''"), ''Rodrigues'' ("son of ''Rodrigo''") which along with many others are still in regular use as very prevalent family names.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

In medieval times, Portuguese nobility started to use one of their estates' names or the name of the town or village they ruled as their surname, just after their patronymic. [[Soeiro Mendes da Maia]] bore a name "Soeiro", a patronymic "Mendes" ("son of Hermenegildo – shortened to Mendo") and the name of the town he ruled "[[Maia, Porto, Portugal|Maia]]". He was often referred to in 12th-century documents as "Soeiro Mendes, senhor da Maia", Soeiro Mendes, lord of Maia. Noblewomen also bore patronymics and surnames in the same manner and never bore their husband's surnames. First-born males bore their father's surname, other children bore either both or only one of them at their will.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Only during the Early Modern Age, lower-class males started to use at least one surname; married lower-class women usually took up their spouse's surname, since they rarely ever used one beforehand. After the [[1755 Lisbon earthquake]], Portuguese authorities realized the benefits of enforcing the use and registry of surnames. Henceforth, they became mandatory, although the rules for their use were very liberal.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Until the end of the 19th century, it was common for women, especially those from a very poor background, not to have a surname and so to be known only by their first names. A woman would then adopt her husband's full surname after marriage. With the advent of republicanism in Brazil and Portugal, along with the institution of civil registries, all children now have surnames.
During the mid-20th century, under French influence and among upper classes, women started to take up their husbands' {{as written|surname(s)}}. From the 1960s onwards, this usage spread to the common people, again under French influence, this time, however, due to the forceful legal adoption of their husbands' surname which was imposed onto Portuguese immigrant women in France.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

From the 1974 [[Carnation Revolution]] onwards the adoption of their husbands' {{as written|surname(s)}} receded again, and today both the adoption and non-adoption occur, with non-adoption being chosen in the majority of cases in recent years (60%).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Identidade, submissão ou amor? O que significa adoptar o apelido do marido|date=18 November 2014|url=http://lifestyle.publico.pt/artigos/341672_identidade-submissao-ou-amor-o-que-significa-adoptar-o-apelido-do-marido|access-date=16 April 2018|publisher=Lifestyle.publico.pt|archive-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417024656/http://lifestyle.publico.pt/artigos/341672_identidade-submissao-ou-amor-o-que-significa-adoptar-o-apelido-do-marido|url-status=live}}</ref> Also, it is legally possible for the husband to adopt his wife's {{as written|surname(s)}}, but this practice is rare.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
[[File:Map of Most Commons Surnames in the United States by State.svg|thumb|Map of Most Common Surnames in the United States by State]]