I'd like to open a discussion to naming conventions proposed by Lúcia Pilla and others in the Portuguese and Brazilian tree. Suggested is that the first surname be placed in the middle name field and the second surname in the last name field for Portuguese profiles.
Example:
First Name: João
Middle Name: Silva
Last Name: Pereira
For those familiar with Spanish surname conventions, it is similar but in reversed order. The first surname is usually the maternal family name passed down from mother to child and the second surname is commonly that of the paternal side.
The advantage to this is that the primary surname (paternal family name) is given more weight by occupying the whole of the last name field. It would also be very familiar to Portuguese and Brazilian users and thus easily adopted. However, if not universally accepted by all users, including non-Portuguese, misaligned fields may prevent profile matches and cause many duplicates.
One alternative is to place both the maternal and paternal family names in the last name field. The advantage to this is that it is in line with current conventions on Geni, including those used in the Spanish tree. This will also increase the likelyhood of matching duplicate profiles and make them more liable to be found when searched for by users.
Example:
First Name: João
Middle Name:
Last Name: Silva Pereira
Please share your thoughts and opinions.
