Mexico 1850 surname

dansolis

whose surname is given to the children, the father's or the mother's? I have a birth in which the son is given the mother's surname. Why?

Shameck Arroyo

Because there was no father at time of registration due to complex relationships or simply because he might've been dead. That still happens these days.

PABulfinch

Actually, it is Spanish tradition to give children the mother's surname.