Portuguese name

A Portuguese name is typically composed of one or two given names, and a number of family names (rarely one, but often two or three, seldom more). The first surname(s) are usually the mother's family surname(s) and the final surname(s) are the father's family surname(s).

For practicality, usually only the last surname (excluding prepositions) is used in formal greetings or in scientific papers indexing. But, in a list of persons, the first given name, not the surname, is used for alphabetical sorting. A married woman may add her husband's last surname(s) to the end of her own name, but this is not mandatory and increasingly less common. The same may happen with men, though this is extremely rare.

General

The Portuguese naming system is quite flexible. The law establishes the need for a child to have at least one given name and one last name (surname) from one of the parents, although having only one last name is now very rare. The law also establishes the maximum number of names allowed: up to two given names and four surnames (just in Portugal). This restriction is generally not enforced and it is not uncommon to have more than 4 surnames.