In Spain people have
two family names and one or more
given names:
- The first family name is the father's first family name.
- The second family name is the mother's first family name.
- Nor women, nor men, change their names when they get married. Your name is for your whole life.
My name is
Pere Quintana Seguí.
Let's analyze it's structure.
- Pere: This is my given name. It is in Catalan (my mother tongue) and is the equivalent of Peter.
- Quintana: This is my father's first family name.
- Seguí: This is my mother's first family name.
It is important to know that we do not hyphen our family names. So my
family name must be written "Quintana Seguí" and not
"Quintana-Seguí". Nevertheless, sometimes, my name is hyphend.
Finally, in many situations, we do use only one family name, to go
faster. In this case, the one that prevails is the first family name.
Therefore, sometimes I write my name as "Pere Quintana".
To sump up, you can call me:
- Pere Quintana
- Pere Quintana Seguí
Both options are valid, but the last one is preferred.