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Mexico Registers Its First Baby With Maternal Last Names

In Latin America babies get two last names, the father's surname followed by the mother's paternal surname. But one couple did it differently.
Mexico, Playa del Carmen, dancing feet of an overweight baby.
File photo of a Mexican baby's feet. Anthony Asael
/ Source: The Associated Press

The first baby in Mexico to be officially named with the maternal surnames of both parents has been registered in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

The tradition in Latin America is to give babies two last names — the father's surname, followed by the mother's paternal surname.

So baby Bárbara, born to José González de Diego and Alicia Vera Zboralska would normally have been named Bárbara González Vera, losing both parents' maternal surnames.

But to honor the maternal line, the couple won a court injunction allowing them to name their child Bárbara de Diego Zboralska.

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Court records showed the couple got the injunction Dec. 28 and the child was registered Monday in the city of Monterrey.

Raul Guajardo, director of public registries in Nuevo León, said it was a first.

"In the history of the country, no boy or girl has ever been given the maternal surnames of the father and the mother," he said.

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