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