Diane, in my experience, there is no naming convention in the research I have going back to the beginning of the records in Portugal and the Azores. I know of 5 male siblings who all have a different surname. I have spoken to someone whose surname was not what I "expected" it to be, and upon questioning, was told that there were "too many with the same name so he changed his name because the mail kept getting mixed up." My husband's maternal grandfather went by the surname of Silva in this country. When I went to the Azores and found his baptismal record, his father was MANUEL DO CANTO and his mother was JACINTA FILOMENA de JESUS GOMES. His paternal grandfather was, FRANCISCO do CANTO and his paternal grandmother was, ANA JACINTHA de JESUS. Maternal grandparents were: MANUEL de LUZ-SOUSA and MARIA de JESUS JACINTHA DE GOMES. I was lucky, my mother-in-law was still living and could give me the clue as to the Silva surname for her father and her siblings. When her father, Jacintho do Canto came to this country, he was asked his name and he replied, "Jacintho do Canto." The thrid time he was asked and replied the same way, the man in line next to him said, "That's Jesse Silve in this country." I always think of that as his being re-baptized on the spot. I don't think that many of the immigrants were able to dispute something like this. I think they were agreeable to anything that let them enter the country and did not cause any problems for them. I also joke that giving your child his grandparent or godparent's surname makes sense. Think about the poverty where they lived; if the parents felt they wanted to have someone take care of the child in the event they were unable to do so, the honor of that grandparent or godparent's name being given to the child might make sense to the parent. In a lot of cases, people used nicknames and their "formal name" was not often used. It was something that was used only on official documents and the nickname was used daily. This adds another aspect to the name someone may have "adopted" and used when they migrated to another country. So, names, just try to accept them as they arise and find documentation that seems to validate the name. It is like a puzzle and you have to make sure all the sides of the piece you have fit into the hole in the puzzle. For women, it seems to be even more of a challenge. I have records where a Maria (I believe 90% of the female children were named Maria) is Maria at baptism. She is Maria dos Anjos at marriage and Maria da Gloria upon her death and the widow of whatever her husband was named. During most of my research, a woman did not have a surname and her first name was a challenge to record.
Your neighbor in Hayward, Celeste Celeste Perry [email protected] -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
