The "two last names" issue
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Here's a bit of information about my two last names, in case you're wondering... First, some pronunciation. The closest English sounds that I can think of for the letters in Alicea are: "A" as in father, "L" as in last, "I" as in feet, "C" as in ceiling, "E" as in bet (and the emphasis goes on this letter), "A" as in father, again. Now, repeat after me, Alicea: ah-lee-cEH-ah, ah-lee-cEH-ah, ah-lee-cEH-ah, Alicea. Not "Alicia", notice the different spelling and the very different pronunciations. Got it? Good. Moving along... For Muñoz: "M" as in mother, "U" as in foot, "Ñ" as in cognac or canyon, "O" as in son (emphasis on this letter), "Z" as in zebra. Repeat after me, Muñoz: moo-nyOHz, moo-nyOHz, moo-nyOHz, Muñoz. It's not an "n", it sounds different, and the emphasis goes on the "o", not the "u". Got it? Good! Now that wasn't so bad, wasn't it? I hope it was understandable enough...
And now for the amount of last names I have... Yes, I have two last names, Alicea and Muñoz. The first one is my father's first last name, and the second one is my mother's first last name. In Puerto Rican culture (as well as in many other countries in Latin America), people use both last names when writing their name. Ever wonder why Gabriel García Márquez uses three names? "García" is not his middle name... In case it is necessary to use only one last name, then the first last name (i.e. the father's last name) is the primary one. So, saying that my name is "Emily A. Muñoz" is incorrect. This would be a completely different person, because I have no middle name. My name should be written completely, with both last names ("Emily Alicea-Muñoz"), or with the first one only ("Emily Alicea"), but never with the second one alone. It's almost as if the second last name serves the function that middle names do in the United States. They're part of your full name but sometimes can be omitted.
In Puerto Rico I do not hyphenate my last names because everybody understands that there's two of them. This causes no confusion at all because everybody else has two last names too! However, whenever I'm in the U.S. I see myself forced to put that hyphen between Alicea and Muñoz because that is the only way to let it be apparent that the whole thing is my last name(s) and that Alicea is not a middle name at all.
I've also had situations in which they just take out the hyphen and make my last name into one big word, "Aliceamuñoz". This happens mainly when I buy airplane tickets online, but I've seen it done elsewhere too. I've also seen it written "Aliceamunoze" and "Alicca Munoz". The weirdest one, however, has to be "Emily Alicea Al-Munoz", which I've seen written in a few pieces of junk mail I've received. I'm still trying to figure out where those horrendous misspellings came from.
The surname confusion arises from both linguistic and cultural differences. In Spanish, the words that come after your first and middle names are called apellidos. The first one (which comes from your father) is called apellido paterno, and the second one (which comes from your mother) is called apellido materno. Therefore, there is no confusion as to which one goes first. And when you use only one then you use the first one, the paternal last name, and you call it simply apellido. In English, however, that pesky term "last name" lends itself to the idea that whatever is at the end of someone's name must be their "apellido", regardless of the person's cultural background.
I think the biggest confusion I've come across is when people think that I am married (!!!) and that Muñoz is my husband's last name. Gee whiz, where do I even begin to explain everything that's wrong with that assumption? In Puerto Rico (and many places in Latin America), a woman does not take her husband's last name when she gets married. For example, my mother is Mrs. Muñoz, even though she is married to Mr. Alicea. Long ago it used to be a tradition that the women would add "de" after their first last name and then change the second last name to their husband's first last name, but like I said, that was looooong ago and people don't usually do that anymore (or at the very least, it is rare to see it nowadays).
Therefore, I will not take John's last name when we get married. It's nothing against him, and he knows this; it's mainly because of my culture's tradition but also because I like my last names, and that this way I have my own separate professional identity. He will continue being "John Wise" and I will continue being "Emily Alicea-Muñoz" after we get married, simple as that.
And don't even get me started on what happens if/when I have kids! If both parents are Puerto Rican, then there is no reason to even ask. As an example, take my name: both my parents are Puerto Rican, and there was never any doubt as to what my last names would be. On the other hand, when one parent is Puerto Rican (say, me) and the other is not (say, John), then the last name(s) could be an issue. There are countless options to get around this problem, though. To prevent confusion in the U.S., the kid could have only the father's last name. This could, however, cause confusion in the mother's culture ("a kid with only one last name? *gasp* does the kid have no mother?"). Another option would be to hyphenate the father's last name with the mother's first last name (and only the first last name gets passed down, not the second last name). A hyphenated last name, however, lends itself to confusion in the U.S., as my name very clearly exemplifies. One more option would be to make the mother's first last name into a middle name for the child (but this option can also backfire when that middle name gets mistaken for a last name in the mother's culture)... Lucky for me I don't have to worry about these issues for a long long time.
Oh, and another thing: in any list ordered alphabetically (by last names) where my name happens to appear, it should be under the letter A, not in the M, because Alicea is the primary last name (I like my location near the beginning of the alphabet).
So... Let's recap:
|
Correct: Emily Alicea Correct: Emily Alicea-Muñoz Correct: Emily Alicea Muñoz Correct: E. Alicea Correct: E. Alicea-Muñoz Correct: Alicea, Emily Correct: Alicea-Muñoz, Emily Correct: Alicea Muñoz, Emily |
TOTALLY WRONG: Emily
Muñoz TOTALLY WRONG: Emily A. Muñoz TOTALLY WRONG: Emily Aliceamuñoz TOTALLY WRONG: E. Muñoz TOTALLY WRONG: E. A. Muñoz TOTALLY WRONG: Muñoz, Emily TOTALLY WRONG: Muñoz, Emily A. TOTALLY WRONG: Aliceamuñoz, Emily |
The examples in the "Totally Wrong" column are all different incorrect ways in which I have seen my name written... Remember: they are all wrong. The correct ones are in the column on the left... Just thought I'd better point that out, in case of any confusion... And if you're wondering why don't I just drop the Muñoz completely and stop all the confusion... No way! That's my mother's last name! It's one third of my name! Why would I want to drop it? Besides, I have no middle name, and I like my three initials... And don't even get me started on the "ñ", because people ALWAYS take out the "~" and turn it into an "n", but that's a whole'nother rant altogether...
Ok, I'll rant about the "ñ"... This is a letter in the Spanish alphabet, and it is different than the letter "n". The letter "ñ" sounds like the "ny" in the word "canyon", and it goes between the "n" and the "o" in the Spanish alphabet. I understand that most computer systems do not allow for quick typing of the letter "ñ", and so it is easier to just make it a "n", but at least acknowledge that it is a different letter, please?
And just so you know, I'm not the only person dealing with the "two last names" issue. Any Puerto Rican that decides to come to the United States has to deal with people mistaking their first last name for their middle name. Some people decide to drop the second last name. My friend Carlos did just that: dropped his second last name (Solivan), and now goes by Carlos A. Santana, the "A" standing for his middle name "Andrés" (and no, he's not a famous guitarist, nor is he related to that other Carlos Santana). Some people, like me, put a hyphen in-between the two last names to help clear the confusion. My friends Angélica A. Pérez-Andújar and Yaireska M. Collado-Vega have done this too. And some other people don't do anything and just have to deal with correcting people all the time. My friend Ángel G. Fuentes Figueroa has opted to do this, because he doesn't want to disturb his name in any way (and he abhors hyphens).
If you Google "two last names" you'll find some links to websites which further explain the "two last names issue", including a very informative essay written (very eloquently) by Manuel Pérez-Quiñones. If you think about it, he has to deal with more stuff with his last names than me, because not only does he have two last names, but one of them has an accent and the other one has a ñ, not to mention that "qui" combination that can cause confusion among English-speakers, while I only have to deal with the two last names and the ñ, no accents anywhere. Though "Alicea" seems to be impossibly hard for English-speakers to pronounce, at least in my experience... Anyway, you get the point.
I hope, my dear reader, that this little rant has enlightened you, and that my two last names won't seem weird to you anymore.
Last Updated: 28 July 2008
