Because I am from Spain and have two last names, Paternal and Maternal and a woman does NOT change her name at the time of marriage, I am finding inconsistencies upon entering my family information.
IS ANYONE ELSE HAVING THESE ISSUES AND HOW DOES GENI.COM HANDLE THESE TYPES OF ISSUES? I know Spain is not the only country.
Also, even other countries where the women do change their last name to their husband's last name, NOT entering her maiden name does not help find out who her father is. Nor does entering example: "Mrs. Smith" to fill a void or empty spot as someone's mother, the system will not pick up the correct information if filled with an incorrect name, it tends to look for possible parents of the temporary name entered.
Given Names at Birth:
Currently, in Spain, people bear a single or composite given name (Nombre in Spanish) and two surnames (Apellidos in Spanish).
A composite given name comprises two (or more) single names; for example, "Juan Pablo" is considered not to be a first and a second forename, but a single composite forename (or First Name as Americans would refer to it as.)
Spanish gender equality law has allowed surname transposition since 1999, subject to the condition that EVERY SIBLING must bear the same surname order recorded in the Registro Civil (civil registry), UNLESS the children have two different mothers, or father, and there are other been legal exceptions.
The two surnames (Last Names) refer to each of the parental families. Traditionally, a person's first surname is the father's first surname (apellido paterno), and their second surname is the mother's first surname (apellido materno).
Example, a man named "Eduardo Fernández Garrido"
marries a woman named "María Dolores Martínez Ruiz"
and they have a child named José, their child would most usually be known as "José Fernández Martínez"
In June 2017 Spain passed a law allowing the parents to choose the order of the last names given to their children, adopting the paternal name first is no longer the mandatory standard method, and parents are required to sign an agreement wherein the name order is expressed explicitly.
The law also grants a person the option, upon reaching adulthood, of reversing the order of their surnames. However, this legislation only applies to Spanish citizens; people of other nationalities are issued the surname indicated by the laws of their original country.
MARRIAGE:
Women DO NOT CHANGE THEIR ORIGINAL GIVEN NAME AT BIRTH TO THEIR HUSBANDS NAME. THIS IS A LEGAL LAW! (I just went through this while obtaining my Dual Citizenship and Residency, it was made quite clear to me my name regardless of marriage legally in Spain is my birth given name - I have never taken a husband last name and my legal documentation in both countries of citizenship are the same).
In Spain, upon marrying, a WOMAN DOES NOT CHANGE HER surname. ONLY In some instances, such as high society meetings, the partner's surname can be added after the person's surnames using the preposition de (of). An example would be a "Leocadia Blanco Álvarez", married to a "Pedro Pérez Montilla", may be addressed as "Leocadia Blanco de Pérez" or as Leocadia Blanco Álvarez de Pérez. This format is not used in everyday settings and has no legal value and is only used in Social Settings.
One may use and or be known with a "single" surname, but two surnames are given, paternal and maternal.
Legally in both countries, I am "Diana Raquel Sainz (Paternal) Wilson (Maternal)". I normally only use "Diana Raquel Sainz" in both countries, but my legal documentation matches and I sign all legal documents in Spain with both. I have never used a husband's last name, nor take it on despite the fact that there are records with my name hyphenated with an ex-husbands name.
I am just trying to find some sort of consistency in entering last names in countries where a female legally by law DOES NOT and CANNOT change her Surname.
