(need citation) Hispanic societies practiced matrilineal surname transmission. In some cases, children were given a grandparent’s surname for prestige. “y” Spanish naming patterns include the option of conjoining surnames with the conjunction “y” (meaning “and.”) Double surnames sometimes were willed to following generations when the maternal lineage carried more prestige than the paternal line. An example of this would be Jose Maria Alvarez del Manzano y Lopez del Herrero. His first name is a composite name “Jose Maria” and he also carries two composite surnames, “Alvarez del Manzano” and “Lopez del Herrero.” In this case, “Manzano” and “Herrero” are maternal surnames. In cases when the child's father either is unknown or refuses to legally recognize him or her, the child sometimes takes both maternal surnames. “de” The preposition “de” is often used as a conjunction in two surname spelling styles and in modern times to distinguish a surname. The first style is in patronymic (derived from a man’s surname) and toponymic (derived from a place name) as in many conquistador names: Juan Ponce de Leon and Vasco Núnez de Balboa. The second style is only toponymic in the case of “de la Rúa” (of the Street) and “de la Torre” (of the Tower). In 1958 Spanish law prohibited the use of prefixing “de” to a surname except in cases when the surname may be mistaken for a composite first name. An example would be Pedro de Miguel Jiménez. Without the “de” one might think that his first name is Pedro Miguel. In the 16th and 17th centuries the usage of “de” to denote a noble heritage gained popularity (even among those with no noble heritage) as a way to distinguish the bearer from the Jews and Moors. Because of this, the particle “de” does not always denote a noble family – especially in Castile and Alava where “de” usually is applied to the place-name of the origins of the person. Identity A man named after his father might append “h.” to his surname indicating that he is the son, much like Jr. in English. Spanish surnames ending in “ez” denotes the “son of” as in the case of Álvarez (son or Alvar or Alvaro), Díaz (the son of Diego), Fernández (the son of Fernando), Sánchez (The son of Sancho).
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