Re: Last name Soto or Sotomajor?
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In reply to:
Re: Last name Soto or Sotomajor?
Web Master 9/26/08
Hi Lily,
This is a very common question in northwest Puerto Rico, and in other places. First you should check to see if your great grandfather's last name was in fact Soto Mayor, documentation is key here. Then, I can assure you that in Puerto Rico the family name Sotomayor was shortened to Soto. This happened because they carried the family name as two separate, yet united compound name: that is, Soto Mayor. In my family the same thing happened. I have various documents where they appear as Soto Mayor, or Soto=mayor, or Sotomayor, or Soto. This same dynamic occurred with other compound family names such as Luciano de Fuentes, Lorenzo de Acevedo, etc. Sotomayor is a compound last name from Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain, and dates back to the 1100s. It literally means Great Grove, because Galicia is full of groves due to its position close to the ocean. But our family in order to differentiate from other Sotos, made it a compound name: Soto Mayor. Actually, the original Gallego spelling is Soutomaior.
Hope this helps.
Best,
A de .S.