English Surnames

When studying a foreign language, one of the first things we learn to do is introduce ourselves. So it would be useful to look at English surnames (apellidos).

In English-speaking countries, it is common for women to take the surname of their husbands after getting married. For example, when Janet Sanders married Michael Burton, her name became Janet Burton. However it is becoming more common for women to put a hyphen between their maiden name and married name. So, Janet could also be called Janet Sanders-Burton. In fewer cases, women keep their maiden name after marriage.

Still, people tend to have only one surname, usually the father’s. So if Michael and Janet Burton have a daughter called Anne and a son called Andrew, their full names would be Anne Burton and Andrew Burton. And if we want to talk about the entire family, we could refer to them as "the Burtons."

In English-speaking, it is also very common to use a middle name (segundo nombre). Obviously, the middle name is placed between the name and surname. Sometimes, the middle name is a name that has been used by some family members for generations. Do you remember the full name of the U.S. President Kennedy? His name was John F. Kennedy. The "F" stands for Fitzgerald, which was the middle name in this case.

Now let’s look at forms of address (tratamiento). When we address (dirigirse a) a man in formal situations, we use Mr. (pronounced mis-ter) before his surname. For example, when Michael goes to his bank, the employees call him "Mr. Burton. " It is very simple because there is only one form used in all cases.

However, when addressing women, we use different forms depending on their marital status (estado civil). If we talk to a single woman in a formal situation, put Miss before her name, and if married, use Mrs. (pronounced mis-es). When Janet was single (soltera), her employees called her "Miss Sanders," but after getting married, they call her "Mrs.Burton." Nowadays, you can use the alternative Ms. (pronouncd miz), which we use if we don’t know the marital status of the woman we’re talking to, or if a woman doesn’t want to reveal her marital status.