The surname is the name or denomination with which people are distinguished socially and civilly, that is, their first and most obvious identification .
Traditionally, in most Spanish-speaking countries, except in Argentina, where only the paternal surname is still used to accompany a person's first name, when an individual is born they will receive the first name chosen by their parents after reviewing the genealogy family, a little book that contains names or just because of the preference of one of the two for a special name, which can even be accompanied by another and even a third and after this the paternal last name will be placed first and the maternal one later . For example, if the chosen name is Laura and the paternal last name is López and the maternal is Martínez, the identification of this new individual who comes to the world will be Laura López Martínez.
Of the various universal issues that are repeated in the world, but that are not used in the same way by different cultures, that of surnames is the most representative, because as we mentioned, there are concrete and certain differences in this regard in the world. . That of Argentina that we are commenting on, later in Portugal, for example, the same system is used as in the Spanish-speaking countries, but the order of the same is reversed or in Tibet and Java, places in which, the inhabitants, directly, they do not use surnames.
Also usually quite common in some cultures that once the woman gets married becomes lady and here is her married name, leaving almost obsolete your own.
On the other hand, in places like Russia and Romania, surnames have a patronymic origin, that is, a suffix will be added to the surname of the father that will depend on the gender of the newborn.
Then, according to their origin, surnames are divided into: patronymic, those originated by a proper name (Álvarez de Álvaro); toponymic, those that derive from the place or land in which they lived (Gonzalo Asturias); From trades or professions, they derive from the profession or trade that distinguished the family (Juan Alcalde) and from nicknames or descriptions, which are those that derive from the description or nickname that the person or family associated with the surname received (Jorge Alegre) .