Argentine Naming Conventions

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Argentina Naming Conventions

Here is a short guide on how Argentine names should be placed on WikiTree.

However, for a comprehensive background briefing on Argentine names, one may look at Wikipedia and also at this free-space page dedicated to Naming Conventions. Remember, "We should use their conventions instead of ours."

Proper First and Middle Name

Most Argentine people have two names but many treat them as one composite name. Thus for them the right thing to do on Wikitree would be to put BOTH of these names into the “Proper First Name” box.

The Middle Name field should not be used unless the person migrated and changed their name to conform to the new countries naming conventions. Check the radio button under that field 'no middle name.'

Last Name At Birth

Due to the large number of people of Spanish descent, many Argentinians still use the surnames of both parents.

The surnames can be one from the father and one from the mother, so can include the first surname of both. Thus:

• the first part is their father’s first surname (which likely will be his father’s)
• the second part is their mother’s first surname (which likely will be her father’s)

For the Last Name At Birth (LNAB), please use the first surname from the father, and then the first surname from the mother. Please leave the 'de' or 'y' from the Last Name At Birth field as it can cause search errors, creating duplicate profiles. Example: Camila Sofia Rodrigues García

Note that most women in Argentina do not take the surname of their spouse after marriage.^[1] There is a small number that did use it, adding a "de" before his surname.

It is therefore suggested that, on WikiTree, that the father's first surname (family name) and then the mother's first surname should be put into the “Last Name at Birth” box. If you prefer to match the baptism record you can do so. Keep in mind that the "full" surname is their legal surname, despite what it says on the baptism record. If you do so, place the combination of the father's and mother's surname in the Other Last Names field.

Sometimes Argentine surnames (family names) are connected by “y” (and), thus joining them and effectively making them one name. Argentine names are counted as one name even without the 'y.' Per Wikipedia "the words constitute a single logical unit."

Current Last Name

A woman in Argentina rarely took her husband’s surname. It is therefore recommended that the husbands surname not be used unless records are found showing she took his name. In rare cases a woman did take her husband's surname(s), for example:

• Julieta Maria Alonso Vásquez de Fernandez

In practice, however, she may call herself one of the following:

• Julieta Maria Alonso Vásquez de Fernandez
• Julieta Alonso Vásquez
• Julieta Alonso de Fernandez
• Julieta Alonso

Generally, women tend to keep using their maiden name:

• Julieta Alonso

An example of a Descendant tree:

• Descendants of John Newbery

Sources

1. ↑ Before full divorce law was sanctioned in 1985 (or close to it) ALL married women were named like "Juana Perez de Lopez", Perez being her maiden name, Lopez the husband's (if they were upper-class they could be 2 of each). She could even be referred as just "Juana P. de Lopez or Juana de Lopez". This was VERY common prior to 1980. In fact, many older women resisted to abandon the particle "de" because it was a social status marker, as opposed to unmarried women (specially unmarried mothers). So you will find a lot of obituaries and death records were women are named like this. Corbellani-1

• "List of most common surnames in South America" as viewed on Wikipedia.org 30 August 2022.
• "Naming Conventions Around the World" as viewed on ToppanDigital.com
• "Naming customs of Hispanic America" as viewed on Wikipedia.org 30 August 2022.
• "Spanish Naming Conventions" as viewed on tvtropes.org 30 August 2022.
• "Top 100 Argentine names" as viewed on Students of the World.info 30 August 2022.
• "What’s in a name? Argentinian names and their meanings" as viewed on BlogPatagonia.australis.com 30 August 2022.