Date:  Tue, 29 Jul 1997 11:57:31 -0400
From:  Alan Baragona <baragonaa[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]VAX.VMI.EDU>
Subject: Re: (Garcia) Marquez

Ron Butters wrote:
>
> 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.


I don't know about Mexico, but I've lived in Colombia, where Garcia
Marquez hails from, and there the first surname is the patronymic and
the the second is the matronymic and is frequently dropped. Gabriel's
father's name was Garcia. I am relatively sure that this is the
practice throughout the Spanish-speaking world, including Mexico, but I
could be wrong.

Alan B.