Names

I minor confusion that we constantly face, living in Spain is the difference in naming conventions between English-speaking countries and the Spanish. We, of course, have a first name, a middle name, and a last or family name. In Spain people have only a first name and two last names, which designate the two families they spring from. So, whenever we are dealing with official business (banks, the local town hall, etc.) they assume that my "given" name (my nombre) is Gary and my "first last name" (or apellido) is Charles, and my "second last name is White.

At first we would try to explain the difference and the concept of a "middle name" but it would cause great confusion, since all official forms have a blank for the nombre and two blanks for the apellidos. Minor officials had to call superiors to work out the difficulties and much time was wasted by all concerned. At last, I have given up and now tell them that, yes, my family name is "Charles White." When all this is printed out it works just fine, since the names are in the same order. Never mind what my birth certificate says, I'm now "Charles White" and my given name is Gary.

We asked when signing documents if we had to use all of the name instead of my usual Gary C. White, but the officials said, "sign however you want." I'm glad that, at least I don't have to change my signature. Now, we can save a hour or so of waiting at each official encounter and we are named just like every other Spaniard.