Hispanic Names

Video Transcription

There is actually one cultural reason for filing errors with Hispanics. They have two surnames, what we would call last names, or family names. And this can be tricky and as far as filing them correctly in the computer.

So here's an example, Ella se llama María Teresa Álvarez González. So that's her full name. María Teresa were the names that were picked out for her by her parents at birth. And then Álvarez is her paternal surname, the name that came from her dad's side, so his surname. And then González came from her mom's side. That's her maternal surname.

So both are considered last names. Both are surnames or family names that are passed down. And the only difference here would be that González is the equivalent of a maiden name, so rather her mother's maiden name.

So imagine if you're a woman, what your name was before you were married, and then tack on your mom's maiden name at the end of that and that's essentially what your Spanish equivalent name would be. And if you're a guy take your existing name and then add, again your mother's maiden name to the end of that. So it's just carrying that maternal surname one generation further.

So here's a little chart illustrating that. Now the paternal surname, the one that you see in blue, Álvarez this surname, an apellido patterno, this is the one that everything is filed under for her. So she could be listed under A for Álvarez in the phone book. She'll be listed in the hospital system under Álvarez And should be listed in any court system that has documents on her as Álvarez under A.

So this is her most important of her surnames. It's the one that comes from her dad's side. And the one that will always be a part of her name. Whereas González can be dropped once married. So that is one that does not stick around as long traditionally. Although nowadays there is even a new tradition of tacking on the husband's last name and having three surnames, which is a bit much to us.

But anyway Álvarez remains her most important name even if she gets married. So the problem lies in this scenario. When María Teresa comes to the US and fills out her paperwork, she sees one spot for last name. So which one should she give us?

Well what we want is the most important one that things are already file by Álvarez but María has never called that her last name. She calls both of her surnames her apellidos. And a new English speaker-- a new speaker of English who's just now learning the language-- would interpret the word last, as last in sequence. Oh, so they must want the name González So she would most likely write María Teresa González even though she goes by Álvarez

So this can cause problems for people in the medical profession and the legal profession, because now they have a name, that if they were to go back into her documentation to try to line up that name with what she goes by, would not necessarily match. So the best way that you can remedy this and make sure that you have all components of her name are to ask, ¿Cuál es su nombre completo? What is your full name? ¿Cuál es su nombre completo?

There could also be a María Teresa Álvarez González, and a different person María Teresa González Álvarez. So again, it's important to get the ¿Cuál es su nombre completo? Because when she gives you her names in this order, you'll know which one is her apellido patterno, her paternal last name.

So let's see what happens if she gets married. So now she meets Juan Carlos Montalvo Garzón. So she will take-- traditionally, and this is the traditional manner of naming-- she'll take his paternal last name or surname, which is Montalvo, this one. And she will use it to replace her maternal surname or apellido materno, González according to tradition.

So the González would fall off and be replaced with Montalvo, but the Álvarez would remain. María Teresa Álvarez Montalvo. And his name would remain the same. So the name they have in common, Montalvo is not in the same spot for each of them. It's in first position for him and in second position for her. So she's still filed under A for Álvarez.

So if they decide to have a family, let's give them a little girl, Isabel Carolina Montalvo Álvarez would be her name. She would get her paternal name, her paternal surname, apellido patterno from her father's paternal surname, and her maternal surname from her mother's paternal surname. So notice that is always the paternal names of each that get passed down. So the ones that are in first position. The dad's first and then the mom's.

Now, this can cause another problem in entering school, because if this family has interpreted last name to mean last in sequence, and if you just look at their last names Montalvo Garzón Álvarez, they don't even look like a family unit. It looks like people who are not related at all. But they do have a family name in common Montalvo, but it's just not in the last position for each of them.

So again the paternal surname, the apellido patterno, which is in the first spot of the two surnames, is the most important. But ¿Cuál es su nombre completo? Will help you the most. So let's try these again.

Now this is an interactive portion. You're going to repeat after me. I won't hear you. No one else will hear you. So don't be nervous about pronunciation. But if you don't practice now on your own, then when will you?

So go ahead and say these out loud after me, as you look at them. What is your full name? ¿Cuál es su nombre completo? Write it down please. Escríbalo, por favor.

What name do you go by? ¿Qué nombre usa diariamente? What are your last names? This gets both surnames. ¿Cuáles son sus apellidos?

Is your name spelled correctly here? ¿Es correcto el deletreo de su nombre y sus apellidos aquí? Y sus apellidos? Or if you prefer more of a Castilian pronunciation, apellidos aquí?

Is this how you like your name to appear? ¿Es como quiere usted? Again, ¿Es como quiere usted? Que su nombre completo aparezca? And then the easiest one to remember, Is it correct? Is this correct? ¿Es correcto?

And if you can't trill your Rs, that's OK. If you can't do correcto. Imagine that those Rs are two Ds, as in dog, because the way we pronounce the D in the middle of a word in English, like ladder, ladder, or daddy. But think of ladder, ladder.

The way that we pronounce the D is the way they pronounce the R. At least it's the same location of the sound. So correcto, again, imagine two Ds there, correcto. So even if you can't trill, correcto is better than correcto. If you can trill, correcto is better. But at least correcto would be understood, whereas correcto might cause some delay in understanding.

So just to go over this one more time. Here's a new name. If your patient's complete name, as given to you by her is Elena Teresa Camarillo Ochoa. How would you file in the system if your system files by first letter of the last name?

She would be filed under C for Camarillo, because it's her father's name, her paternal last name, apellido patterno. So hopefully that helped to explain a bit, and to really emphasize why ¿Cuál es su nombre completo? Is by far the most important question you can ask when it comes to getting names.