NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — What's in a surname? For many people from Spain and Latin America, it's about who your father is and who your mother is.
The tradition of using two surnames helps clearly identify familial relationships in much of the Spanish-speaking world. But in the United States, having two surnames can be a bureaucratic headache, or worse.
More than 68 million people in the U.S. identify as ethnically Hispanic, according to the latest census estimates. Many of them use two surnames.
One famous example can be found in the birth name of Puerto Rican rap superstar Bad Bunny, who is set to perform in the halftime show at this weekend’s Super Bowl. His given name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, after his father Tito Martínez and his mother Lysaurie Ocasio.
But there is more to the origin story of Hispanic surnames.
In Spain and most Latin American countries, surnames are composed of two names. The first name is from the father and the second from the mother, with some exceptions.
Here is how it works. If Victoria's father is named Daniel Flores Garcia, and her mother is named Ana Salinas Marquez, her surnames will be Flores Salinas.
Women often keep their birth names when they marry, but laws and traditions vary by country. Women sometimes append the husband’s paternal surname. An older way to do this is using “de,” which means “of” as part of the name.
So if Victoria Flores Salinas marries Carlos Sandoval Cruz, she will likely remain Victoria Flores Salinas. But in some countries she might become Victoria Flores Sandoval or Victoria Flores de Sandoval. Other variations are also possible, like appending Sandoval after Salinas.
Regardless, if Victoria and Carlos have a child named Francisco, his full name will be Francisco Sandoval Flores.
People with typical Hispanic surnames who live in the U.S. often simply use the paternal surname to conform with the norm of a single last name. So in the United States, Francisco Sandoval Flores might just go by Francisco Sandoval.
However, people unfamiliar with these naming conventions sometimes assume the father’s name is a middle name, not a surname.
To avoid that problem, some people continue to use both surnames. Still others hyphenate the two names. Occasionally, people even squish the two names together. Susana Pimiento has had to use all three of these strategies in the more than 20 years since she moved to the U.S.
Pimiento owns a translation and interpreter services agency in Austin, Texas, but is originally from Colombia. Her full name is Susana Pimiento Chamorro, but she uses that only for official government business. Even then, things can get tricky.
When she went to get a driver's license for the first time in Texas, the only way they would allow her to keep her two surnames was by hyphenating them.
“I could have dropped my mother’s last name, but then it wouldn’t have matched with my passport,” she said.
Some airlines only allow one surname on a ticket, so she has to run both of her surnames together as if they were one word.
When she got a green card, things were even worse. The government issued it with her husband's name “not even in the American way, but in the old Latin American way,” she said. “So I was Susana de Hammond. Like ‘of Hammond.’”
She had to return the card, which did not match any of her other documentation. It was a year before the government finally issued a new one with her actual name. In the meantime, she had to seek special permission to leave the U.S. so she could travel for work.
“Before I got married, I told my husband, ‘I’m not taking your name, you know? There is no way',” she said. “So then when my green card came with Susana de Hammond, we laughed. We thought that it was a joke. But, oh my gosh, it was so hard to straighten it out!”
FILE - A person holds an American flag and a Mexico flag at a news conference, in Chicago, Sept. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
DENVER (AP) — Brent Burns took a wayward stick to the face while playing for San Jose in October 2013 that ended up costing him teeth and time on the ice.
Since his return — Nov. 21, 2013, to be precise — he's been a permanent fixture in every lineup. Burns, now 41 years old and with the Colorado Avalanche, is set to play in his 1,000th straight regular-season game Saturday at Dallas.
The bearded blueliner has skated through the bumps and bruises that come with delivering checks and deflecting slap shots. So much so that Avalanche coach Jared Bednar can’t wait to one day sit down with Burns and discuss all the ailments that may have kept many a player sidelined for days, weeks and maybe even months.
“He plays through them like it’s not a big deal,” said Bednar, whose team currently owns the NHL's top seed with eight games remaining, including the pivotal contest with the Stars (six points back). “(The streak) is an incredible accomplishment. It’s hard to believe.”
For Burns, it's a streak that's involved plenty of good fortune along the way.
“You've got pucks flying around your head that you don’t see, skates popping up, guys falling on the ice,” Burns said Friday after practice. "There are so many little things that happen 100 times a game. Or you look at your visor after a game, it’s all marked up. It’s a tough game.
"It’s special to think back about some of the games that I went through that I probably shouldn’t have been (in), but I think that’s what makes it special, too. ... A lot of luck — probably why I hate talking about it.”
Burns, who turned 41 on March 9, joined the Avalanche on a one-year deal this season to chase the only thing missing from his resume — a Stanley Cup title.
He's become another leader/mentor on the Avalanche. He still chips in goals, too, on a high-scoring team that boasts Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas. Burns has 11 tallies this season, joining Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom as the only defensemen in league history to notch double-digit goals at 40 or older.
But Burns' specialty remains putting his 6-foot-5, 228-pound frame to good use on opponents who venture into his territory. That’s what makes his streak so remarkable — all the punishment he dishes out and takes. He’s closing in on the all-time ironman streak held by forward Phil Kessel, who played in 1,064 consecutive regular-season games from Nov. 3, 2009, to April 13, 2023.
“What Phil did was incredible,” Burns said. “He’s such a cool character to have that (record), too."
It’s a streak Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog fully appreciates. Landeskog missed three full regular seasons after helping the Avalanche to the 2022 Stanley Cup title because of a lingering knee injury.
“He comes to the rink with a great attitude," Landeskog explained. "He wants to be here. He’s excited to come to work.”
Burns also arrives to the rink lugging around his military-style backpack that’s stuffed with everything necessary to keep him on skates. There’s a cloud of mystery surrounding the precise contents of the heavy pack, though. Whatever it may contain — rumors of recovery gear to his own coffee setup — there's no denying it's become a healing elixir. Burns is in his 22nd NHL season and about to play in his 1,572nd career contest Saturday. The 2016-17 Norris Trophy winner is still averaging nearly 19 minutes a game and has 83 blocked shots this season.
The streak certainly impresses goaltender Scott Wedgewood.
“In my position alone, you’ll do something one game and your hip locks up a little bit,” Wedgewood said. “It’s like, ‘Thank God, I’m not playing the next one. It feels like crap right now.’
“That happens 15 times a year, just on me, let alone taking body checks and slap shots. Playing as much as he does now at that age, keeping that body fresh and everything? He probably wouldn’t be the one to tell you, but he’s probably played through thousands of different nuances.”
Burns made his NHL debut on Oct. 8, 2003, with Minnesota after being a first-round pick by the Wild. He spent seven seasons with Minnesota, 11 in San Jose and three more in Carolina before joining Colorado.
His lone appearance in the Stanley Cup final was in 2016 with the Sharks, where they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Burns has played in 135 career playoff contests.
His current games streak started Nov. 21, 2013 — he played right wing that season — when he returned from his injury and promptly scored a goal. In his 999th straight game Wednesday against Vancouver, he delivered a goal and an assist to become the fifth different defensemen to notch a 30-point season while in their 40s.
“It’s just ridiculous,” Makar said of the streak before suffering an upper-body injury Monday against Calgary that will keep him out a few games. “For him to be able to go out there every night and make an impact, and not just float around and do the minimum, is pretty spectacular, especially at his age.”
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Washington Capitals center Dylan Strome (17) passes the puck against Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns (84) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, left, drives past Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg in the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns (84) smiles at his teammates at the end of the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Friday, March 20, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
