Date:  Tue, 29 Jul 1997 10:42:18 -0400
From:  Ron Butters <RonButters[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>
Subject: (Garcia) Marquez

Alan Baragona writes:

>I get annoyed when people refer
>to Gabriel Garcia
>Marquez as "Marquez" instead of
>"Garcia Marquez."

Could somebody please explain the protocol here?

As I recall, when I lived in Mexico, people explained to me that "Garcia" was
the matronymic and "Marquez" the patronymic--and the matronymic was
frequently dropped in all but the most formal of situations. Is my memory
wrong? Or are there different practices in different parts of the
Spanish-speaking world? It seems to me that people frequently referred to ech
other by their "last" names rather than their full family names.