Hispanic Naming Conventions: Married Women

Naming conventions are one of the most common questions I receive from those who are still getting the hang of researching Mexican, Hispanic, or Spanish genealogy. Understanding these conventions is critical for finding records, and for confirming identity and kinship. If you are not aware of the applicable naming customs for a particular group of people, in a particular place, at a particular time, you will likely find yourself chasing the wrong person. You will also miss key clues for identifying and connecting other family members.

The customs I reference in this post pertain to families from Mexico, the rest of Latin America, Spain, and parts of the United States when they belonged to Mexico and/or Spain. To tackle this I am kicking off my new “Genealogy Quick Tips” video series.

My first Quick Tips focuses on married women and surnames. We discuss the general traditional custom that exists in the old country, as well as what tends to change for those Hispanic married women who immigrated to the United States.

My next Quick Tip will focus on Hispanic surnames in general. To make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe to my blog and/or my YouTube channel.