One thing I did not address is that when some of our ancestors immigrated their last name incorporated the “de, da, do, dos” So the descendants of Manuel de Sousa and his cousin Joao da Costa became known as Manuel Desousa (or DeSousa) and Joao Dacosta (or DaCosta)and these were the names used by their descendants. In this case the last name of their descendants is recorded as such. If the ancestor is found under both names. The name is noted in my genealogy program which has the capability of sorting all names a person is listed under.
Rick Richard Francis Pimentel Epping, NH From: azores@googlegroups.com [mailto:azores@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Richard Francis Pimentel Sent: Saturday, April 4, 2015 7:40 AM To: azores@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: [AZORES-Genealogy] Question about preferred method for entering last names in Ancestry.com or other databases Over the years I have tried different methods in entering names into Genealogy programs. A major consideration in entering names from Portugal and the Acores, is the naming traditions make it very confusing and the fact that names are sorted there by first name. Thrown into this mix is the “de, da, do, dos” used in names. With this consideration I enter names this way: I enter the “de, da, do, dos” at the end of the first name. Example Manuel da Costa is entered: first name “Manuel da” last name “Costa”. Manuel de Sousa da Costa is entered: first name “Manuel de” last name “Sousa da Costa” Names like Manuel Furtado are entered: first name “Manuel” last name “Furtado” Many woman used religious names Such as “Maria de Jesus” and no last name is given. In this case I enter the first name as “Maria de Jesus” and no last name is used. I have some times found that woman later pick up or use their family name. In this case I simply add that name as a last name. Thus her full name becomes first name “Maria de Jesus de” last name “Sousa” In cases where woman use a family name and no religious name I simply use the parameters as I outline for men. One more consideration is that children did not use family names and as such were only referred to by their name given at birth. When they reached their majority they were then referred to by a full name. Because of the naming traditions I do not arbitrarily assign them a family name. I also found that the genealogy program you use should be able to sort names by first name or last name and when entering names allow separate entry of first and last name. Rick Richard Francis Pimentel Epping, NH -- For 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." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
