Special Articles Indexing the Names of Authors from Spanish- and Portuguese-Speaking Countries

Bill Black guage names; discuss how authors write writing Juan Sánchez y Mendoza instead of Journals in the United States and other their names, as shown by submissions to Juan Sánchez Mendoza. Some persons use English-speaking countries—as well as our own journal over the last several years; a hyphen to join the two surnames, such as journals written either entirely or partly provide guidance on how to “read” the Juan Sánchez-Mendoza or María Esquivel- in English in other nations—are receiving names so that you can index them cor- Sánchez. Some men and women use just growing numbers of papers from authors rectly; and offer some guidelines that you an initial for the maternal surname, such whose first language is not English. For might want to suggest to authors and some as Juan Sánchez M. example, Latin America’s world share of changes you may want to make in your Portuguese also uses compound sur- scientific literature indexed by ISI more journal to increase the chances that oth- names, but with the order reversed from than doubled from 1981 to 2000, and it ers will cite your authors and your articles that in Spanish, that is, with the mother’s continues to climb.1 In addition to the correctly. surname coming first and the father’s sur- challenge of helping authors from around name second. Women vary in how they the world to express their ideas in English, The Classical Rules write their name after becoming mar- editors have the responsibility to make The style manual that we use for our journal ried; a common practice is to drop the certain to present and index their names provides basic, “classical” rules for Spanish maternal surname and keep the paternal correctly. Besides being a courtesy to the and Portuguese names.3 Names of Spanish surname and add the husband’s paternal authors, it can help to ensure that other origin, it says, often use two surnames, the surname. In all those cases, the indexing researchers and bibliographic database ser- first being the father’s and the second the of the Portuguese names would use the last vices that cite the articles give the credit mother’s. Almost without exception, such word in the author’s name, much as it is in due to the authors and to the editors’ jour- “compound” surnames should be alphabet- English. (Later I’ll consider some specific nals and that other researchers who see ized and indexed according to the father’s exceptions or confusing situations, such the piece cited can easily locate abstracts name. When a woman marries, she drops as the Portuguese equivalents for “Junior” of the articles or their full text. Knowing her mother’s name but keeps her father’s [Filho] or “III” [Neto].) a little more about names from countries name, to which she appends the preposi- Both Spanish and Portuguese also often where English is not the first language can tion de (“of”) followed by her husband’s use compound given names, such as María also help in reviewing the reference items father’s surname. For example, if María Cristina or José Fernando in Spanish in the articles. Esquivel López marries Juan Sánchez or Maria Tereza or Lúcia Helena in Understanding and correctly writing Mendoza, she drops her mother’s sur- Portuguese. Compound given names can names from another language can be diffi- name (López), keeps her father’s surname also include prepositions and articles, such cult, as was discussed in the case of Chinese (Esquivel), and adds “de Sánchez,” becom- as María de Jesús or María de las Mercedes in an earlier Science Editor article.2 There ing María Esquivel de Sánchez. If María in Spanish and Maria das Dores or Isabel are similar challenges with the names and Juan have two children, a daughter da Conceição in Portuguese. Long names of authors from Spanish- or Portuguese- named Susana and a son named Jorge, in Portuguese are no problem for indexing, speaking countries. Both those languages their full names would be Susana Sánchez because they are still indexed by the pater- traditionally use naming patterns that are Esquivel (that is, her given name, then nal surname, which will be the last word in different from the ones in English-speaking her father’s surname and her mother’s sur- the name, as it is in English. However, for nations. In addition, the rules in Spanish name) and Jorge Sánchez Esquivel (that is, persons unfamiliar with Spanish names, the differ from those in Portuguese in ways that his given name, then his father’s surname use of compound given names can make it often make Spanish names more difficult and his mother’s surname). difficult to decide whether a word that falls than Portuguese ones to index correctly. There can be some variations in how the in the middle of a name is the second part In this article, I present the “classical” parts of the compound surname are present- of the given name or is the paternal sur- rules about Spanish- and Portuguese-lan- ed in Spanish. Some women omit the de name. Later I present some guidelines to when adding the husband’s surname, such help in making those distinctions. BILL BLACK is the editor of English-language as using María Esquivel Sánchez instead of materials for Revista Panamericana de Salud María Esquivel de Sánchez. Both men and Our Sample vs the Classical Rules Pública/Pan American Journal of Public women may use the conjunction y (“and”) Are authors following the classical rules? Health). to join the paternal and maternal names, To assess that, we looked at the English-

118 • Science Editor • July - August 2003 • Vol 26 • No 4 Special Articles Indexing continued

language articles submitted to our journal, advanced degrees in English-speaking this variety of practices when authors do Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan countries, write well in English, and may not use a form that is close to the standard American Journal of Public Health, over be familiar with the differences between practices for English-language names? the 3-year period January 2000 through English names and those in Spanish or Two steps are essential: 1) distinguishing December 2002. Our journal carries arti- Portuguese. Others have never lived out- Spanish from Portuguese and 2) learning cles in English, Spanish, and Portuguese; side their home countries, have limited to read the “elements” of a Spanish or each article appears only once and in English writing skills and so pay to have Portuguese name, such as distinguishing only one of the three languages. The large professionals translate their articles into between given names and surnames and majority of authors are from the western English, and may not know the English knowing how to handle prepositions and hemisphere; a very small number are from naming rules. Furthermore, although they articles. (There’s also a guideline, pre- other parts of the world, such as Spain. We may have published extensively in Spanish sented at the end of this article, that may encourage authors to write in their first or Portuguese in their home countries supersede the above.) language—and thus their strongest one— or elsewhere, this may be the first time Of the major Romance languages, but they may choose to write in another that they are writing an English-language Spanish and Portuguese may be the two one. For example, an author from Brazil article for an international journal. that are most similar. In distinguishing might decide to write in English or Spanish Are all our authors following the “classical” between Spanish and Portuguese, prob- instead of his or her native Portuguese. Spanish and Portuguese rules for names? In a ably the best indicator is the author’s We included all authors of English-lan- word, no. In fact, much to the relief of edi- country. Spain and Portugal colonized guage papers who listed affiliations with tors of English-language journals, most of the much of the New World and brought their institutions in Spanish- or Portuguese- authors whose names we surveyed are using respective languages with them. With the speaking countries. To that group we forms of their names that will present few exception of Brazil, where Portuguese is added authors with Spanish or Portuguese problems for English-language editors. For spoken, all the larger countries of Central names who were affiliated with inter- example, of the 90 Spanish names checked, America and South America use Spanish. national organizations based in English- 41 (45.6%) consisted of just a single given In the Caribbean, the most common lan- speaking countries and for which Spanish name and a single surname (for example, guages are English, Spanish, and French; or Portuguese is one of the official lan- Susana Vázquez). Another 15 (16.7%) it depends on which country colonized the guages. (That was most commonly true for consisted of a single given name, an initial, island. If you are not sure of the official authors affiliated with our journal’s parent and one surname (for example, María G language of a country, a quick look at an organization, the Pan American Health Guzmán). (A check of Spanish names from almanac or a search on the Internet can Organization.) Spanish-language articles that we published answer the question. We excluded authors with Spanish or in the year 2000 showed similar percentages, Another way to distinguish between Portuguese names who were affiliated of 54.4% and 10.7%, respectively.) Another Spanish and Portuguese is to look at the with other types of institutions in English- six (6.7%) consisted of one given name and use of accents and other diacritical marks. speaking countries, such as universities. a hyphenated compound surname (for exam- For example, Spanish uses “ñ” (n with tilde, Such authors may have been born in ple, Héctor Díaz-Torres). All three of those as in the surname Núñez), but Portuguese English-speaking countries, or they could categories could be easily indexed by follow- does not. Portuguese uses the “ç” cedilla have been working for some time in ing the customary practices for English-lan- form (as in the surname Gonçales), but English-oriented institutions. In either guage names. Where there will most likely be Spanish does not. case, we thought those persons would be problems in Spanish are with names that use Both languages use accent marks over more likely to be following the standard three or more words without hyphens or that vowels, but Spanish uses only one form English-language rules for names, so their have conjunctions, prepositions, or articles. and Portuguese uses several. Both lan- names could be indexed in the same way (Because relatively few Portuguese names guages use “acute” accent marks, such as as standard English names. will present difficulties, I do not provide the “é” in José, a given name in Spanish We chose to use our journal to compile data on the various forms that we found in and Portuguese. Portuguese also uses the sample of names because we believed our English-language articles; however, some the circumflex form, such as the “ô” in that the authors who write in English for of the most common problems are discussed Antônio, and the tilde over a vowel to our journal would be representative of the below.) indicate its nasalized form, such as João, wide array of Spanish- or Portuguese-lan- the Portuguese form for John. guage authors writing for English-language Distinguishing Spanish from A complete list of the diacritics used in journals in the United States and else- Portuguese Spanish and Portuguese is given in The where. Some of our authors have received How do you and your journal deal with Chicago Manual of Style (see the chapter

Science Editor • July - August 2003 • Vol 26 • No 4 • 119 Special Articles Indexing continued titled “Foreign Languages in Type”). David, and Daniel. Others are similar but González (the abbreviated form would be However, it is not necessary to memorize use an accent mark, such as Martín, or González del Moral J). all of them. With a little experience, one have a small difference in spelling, such When used without a preposition, the will probably be able to look quickly at a as Eduardo and Sonia. Men’s given names articles Los and Las should remain with the name, see the spelling and diacritical marks in Spanish can often be identified by their surname; for example, the author Manuel used, and have a good idea of whether it is –o ending, such as Fernando, Rodrigo, and Antonio Las Heras should be indexed by Spanish or Portuguese. That is much the Gonzalo. Women’s given names frequently Las Heras (the abbreviated form would be same way that a person who has heard end in –a, such as María, Cristina, and Las Heras MA). some French and some German can distin- Anita. Another way to identify a given guish between the two by their sound pat- name is to use a guide like the ones that Identifying the Elements terns without being able to understand the prospective parents use to choose a baby’s of a Name in Portuguese words themselves. For example, one can name. Several English-language guides to In general, Portuguese names present fewer quickly learn to distinguish between the Spanish-language names have been pub- difficulties than Spanish names. Many Portuguese João Gonçales and Antônio lished, and a number of similar Internet authors use a form that is very similar to Nunes and the Spanish Juan González and sites can be found by doing a Google English: one given name, one surname, Antonio Núñez. search for “Spanish baby names”. One and perhaps one or two initials between useful rule for identifying surnames is that them. Even if the author uses a compound Identifying the Elements many of them are formed by adding an –ez given name and a compound surname, the of a Name in Spanish to a given name, such as Rodríguez, from last word in the name will generally be the With a Spanish name that has more than Rodrigo and González from Gonzalo. For one used for indexing, as is normally the one given name or more than one surname, the first two examples given above, María case in English. For example, Neusa Maria how do you recognize which is which? For Isabel Gutiérrez should be indexed by the Costa Alexandre would be indexed by the example, how do you “read” the name of single surname Gutiérrez (the abbrevi- paternal surname Alexandre (the abbrevi- María Isabel Gutiérrez? Is Isabel part of the ated form would be Gutiérrez MI), and ated form would be Alexandre NMC). given name, or is it the paternal surname Fernando Ruiz Meir should be indexed by As in Spanish, there can be difficulties that should be used for indexing? What the compound surname of Ruiz Meir (the with prepositions and articles or combina- about Fernando Ruiz Meir? Is Ruiz part of abbreviated form would be Ruiz Meir F). tions of them when they form part of the the given name, or it is the paternal sur- Spanish surnames that use conjunctions, paternal surname. Those words include the name that should be used for indexing? prepositions, and articles can be confusing. prepositions de, da, and do and the preposi- As noted earlier, if the author has Among the most common of those forms tion-article combination dos. For example, hyphenated the two surnames, that simpli- are the conjunction y (“and”); the preposi- should the name Boaventura Antônio fies the task. For example, in the case of tion de (“of”); del, de la, de los, and de las, dos Santos be indexed by Santos or dos Juan Sánchez-Mendoza, the author would which all combine a preposition and an Santos? be indexed by the compound surname article; and Los and Las, which are articles If the paternal surname uses any of the Sánchez-Mendoza (the abbreviated form (and which some authors will write as los de, da, do, or dos forms, the name is indexed would be Sánchez-Mendoza J). (The or las). by the word that follows. For example, recommendations for indexing are based The preposition de and the related Boaventura Antônio dos Santos should be on the rules for names given in Anglo- preposition-article combinations (del, de indexed by Santos (the abbreviated form American Cataloguing Rules, 2nd Revision, la, de los, and de las) can appear with the would be Santos BA dos). AACR2, a text that most libraries in the paternal and/or maternal surname. As in With surnames and the conjunction United States and other English-speaking other Spanish names, the author’s name e, usage varies widely. Sometimes e joins countries apply in indexing materials, and should be indexed by the paternal sur- two separate surnames, and at other times on standard indexing rules in Spanish- and name; for example, José del Pozo García the surname + e + surname formation has Portuguese-speaking countries. The abbre- should be indexed by Pozo (the abbrevi- become “fixed” as a single surname. The viated forms suggested here are based on ated form would be Pozo García J del). same author may use the conjunction at the full names and the appropriate abbrevi- The abbreviated form keeps the full form some times and not at others. With this ations according to the “Vancouver style” of the preposition or preposition-article e conjunction, it is best to ask the author for references in manuscripts submitted to combination but puts it at the end of the what he or she prefers. biomedical journals.4) name. Similarly, for a maternal surname Another difficulty in Portuguese is with A variety of patterns can help distin- using de or one of the combined forms, the forms that follow the surname and are guish given names from surnames. Some the author’s name should still be indexed equivalent to “Junior” (Filho) and “III” Spanish given names are written the same by the paternal name; for example, Juan (Neto). They should be kept as part of the as in English, such as Linda, Patricia, Irene, González del Moral would be indexed by surname, not treated as the final, paternal

120 • Science Editor • July - August 2003 • Vol 26 • No 4 Special Articles Indexing continued name itself. Some authors make this clearer guage is not English, you may want to given in their correct abbreviated forms. by putting a hyphen between the surname include some of these recommendations We will include a draft version of that and the Filho or Neto form, as in Djalma C. in your journal’s guidelines. Or, it may be citation in the edited version of the article Moreira-Filho, which would be indexed by easier just to raise these kinds of questions that we send to the authors for their review Moreira-Filho (the abbreviated form would along with the others that you send to and approval, so we can be certain to use be Moreira-Filho DC). authors concerning their manuscripts. the form of names that they want. Other authors, such as Alberto Pellegrini What if you have tried to follow these Learning how to index Spanish- and Filho and Antônio Ribeiro de Castro Neto, guidelines and are still not sure what to do Portuguese-language names properly and do not use a hyphen. Those two authors with a particular name? Then follow our then explicitly telling others how they should be indexed by Pellegrini Filho and special, third rule: Ask the author what should cite your articles should increase Castro Neto (the abbreviated forms would be form he or she wants. Besides making cer- the chances that both your authors and Pellegrini Filho A and Castro Neto AR de). tain that your journal will index the name your journal receive the credit that they properly, both you and the author are are due. Guidelines for Your Journal likely to benefit from this modest cultural Are there any general guidelines that you exchange. Acknowledgments: Thanks go to Ana can offer to authors that will make your Leone and to María Luisa Clark, who life as a journal editor easier? For Spanish Getting Others to Follow reviewed the manuscript. Leone handles names, several helpful ideas were suggested Your Example the indexing for Revista Panamericana de in a recent article by Ruiz-Pérez and oth- That your journal is indexing Spanish- or Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public ers.5 Authors should be encouraged to use Portuguese-language names appropriately Health, and Clark is the managing editor of the same name throughout their publish- does not mean that the correct forms will the journal. ing career. It is preferable to use a form be reproduced by others who cite or index that is close to the normal English patterns: your articles. For example, a researcher References one or two given names and one surname. could read the full text of an article, see 1. ISI. Latin America: a growing presence. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions the authors’ full names, and then cite their Science Watch 2001:12(5). Available at should be avoided. When two surnames are names incorrectly if he or she doesn’t know www.sciencewatch.com/sept-oct2001/index.html. used, they should be joined with a hyphen. the correct rules for two nonhyphenated Accessed 20 March 2003. Another suggestion for Spanish authors, surnames in Spanish. The same can hap- 2. Sun XL, Zhou J. English versions of Chinese not listed by Ruiz-Pérez and others, is to pen if a Portuguese-language author hasn’t authors’ names in biomedical journals: observations discourage authors from using a single used a hyphen to connect Filho or Neto to and recommendations. Sci Ed 2002;25(1):3-4. initial at the end of their name in place of the surname. Major database and indexing 3. Pan American Health Organization. PAHO style the full maternal surname (such as Carlos services frequently make mistakes with manual. Washington, DC: Pan American Health Suárez N); it would be better to use either Spanish names, as Ruiz-Pérez and others Organization; 1994. 5 just the paternal surname or both surnames point out, and a quick search can show 4. International Committee of Medical Journal joined by a hyphen. a number of questionable Filho and Neto Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts Several of those suggestions are also Portuguese “surnames” in such databases submitted to biomedical journals. Available at applicable for Portuguese names. For exam- as PubMed. www.icmje.org. Accessed 20 March 2003. ple, authors should be encouraged to use You might consider a change that we 5. Ruiz-Pérez R, Delgado López-Cózar E, Jiménez- just one form of the name for professional have decided to make for our journal. Contreras E. Spanish personal name variations in work. Authors using Filho or Neto can join In addition to presenting a list with the national and international biomedical databases: it to their surname with a hyphen. authors’ full names, we will add to each implications for information retrieval and bibliomet- Depending on how many manuscripts of our articles a suggested Vancouver-style ric studies. J Med Libr Assoc 2002;90(4):411-30. you receive from authors whose first lan- citation form, with the authors’ names

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