Exactly, David. Long ago, one was baptised with his own name (MANUEL, MARIA, etc.), and only later - very often when they got married, or when they had to participate in any act where a full name was required - THEY would chose their family name. They could chose any family name (generaly their father's or mother's family name, but they could chose any other ancestor's family name). If you go back to the 1500's, you'll find people called FERNANDES whose parents were NUNES and GONÇALVES. It seems that they were trying to hide their original family. My guess is they were probably hidden Jews or Moors, or new-christians. The portuguese still law allows us to give our children any ancestor's family name. My sister gave to her children our mother's family name! Luis K W Lisboa-Portugal ---------------------- MENSAGEM ORIGINAL ---------------------- I read a few years ago (I can't recall the source.) that in the past, Portuguese children did not use surnames/family names until adulthood. At that time the person would choose a surname: mother or father's name or that of a grandparent. David DeGrella Tennessee USA On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 10:05:16 -0800 Scot Austin scotaustin@comcast.net writes: It seems to me that the Potuguese tradition is anything goes. Looking at my wife's family tree some lines change surnames every two or three generations. I was discussing this with a bartender in Ponta del Gada once and he told me he came from a familiy of ten and each child had a different surname. I asked him why and he said, "because that's what my father named us." I think de translates as either "of" or "from" depending which is appropriate. Sometimes it can be confusing. My son-in-law says he is "do Brasil". In English from the Brazil sounds wrong but not in Portuguese. I have noticed that Chico Doria always say "The Madeira" not simply Madeira. Scot Austin ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PRT-MADEIRA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------- Clix ADSL até 24 Mb: a partir de € 29,90/mês A Internet mais rápida do mercado, agora com chamadas grátis e downloads ilimitados! Saiba mais em http://acesso.clix.pt/