as a mexican i can’t help but laugh at how wrong some americans writing mexican characters get the way our name system works so lemme explain so you can get it right!
so most mexicans (remarking MOST because i do mean 99% of us) have TWO last names that come from our parents. it's basically like this:
name / paternal last name (dad's first last name) / maternal last name (mum's first last name).
the first last name is ALWAYS the paternal last name, it always comes from the dad side of the family. there are some exceptions though. in 3 states of the country it's already legal to put the maternal last name first but it's very rare and usually only in special cases, like when the father is absent for example.
there are also cases where the person has only one last name but this is not only extremely rare but it can cause a lot of hardships with legal documentation like school, banks, etc. this can happen for some reasons:
1- they're the child of a single parent (however, to avoid the difficulties that come with having one single last name some end up being registered with the same last names as the parent, but inverted)
2- they were registered in another country where they only have one last name (for example USA, a friend of mine was registered there and for that reason they only have one last name in their documents)
it's important to mention that unlike american last names, the two last names are not separated by “-” they're only separated by a space.
the last names are not necessarily one word, some have two or three. for example last names like “de la rosa” or “del olmo”
also, there's no such thing as married name here. women don't change their last names nor mix them with their husbands last names.
as i am aware, last names tend to work like this in all latin america but many specific details may be different depending on the country and i am not that well informed.
either way, i hope this helps anyone who’s developing a mexican character!
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a new ref for riet! my dearest oc who's accompanied my art journey since the start of this blog, he's my baby boy and means more than the world to me 🥺💕
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Okay so…. Maybe I’m not quite done designing mermaids? I got a little carried away thinking of all the other fashions that could inspire mermaids and... here we are! This first un-prompt-list fashion-mermaid is a mermaid based on Mexican Folk Dance dresses. If you have never seen video of these sorts of dances, have never seen these dresses spin? You need to go do that... now would be a great time. The colors are vibrant, the movements are fluid and mesmerizing... I had a fantastic time designing this mermaid.
I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram.com/ellenartistic or tiktok: @ellenartistic
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