Mexico registers first baby with maternal last names

MEXICO CITY – The first baby in Mexico to be officially named with the maternal surnames of both parents has been registered in the northern state of Nuevo Leon.

The tradition in Latin America is to give babies two last names — the father's surname, followed by the mother's paternal surname.

So baby Barbara born to Jose Gonzalez de Diego and Alicia Vera Zboralska would normally have been named Barbara Gonzalez Vera, losing both parents' maternal surnames.

But to honor the maternal line, the couple won a court injunction allowing them to name their child Barbara de Diego Zboralska.

Court records showed the couple got the injunction Dec. 28 and the child was registered Monday in the city of Monterrey.

Raul Guajardo, director of public registries in Nuevo Leon, said it was a first.

"In the history of the country, no boy or girl has ever been given the maternal surnames of the father and the mother," he said.