Apple-Smith, Anna

Apple Smith, Anna

If Apple is a middle name, it would look like this:

Smith, Anna Apple

HOWEVER, in the case of Hispanic double last names, it is a little more complicated, and often a source of some confusion in the US. The First Last Name is taken from the Father, the Second Last Name from the Mother. So Juanita Rodriguez Perez can be filed:

Rodriguez Perez, Juanita, or

Rodriguez, Juanita

BUT

Perez, Juanita

is someone else! (Or should be — sometimes the paperwork gets done incorrectly. See the link below for a terrific explanation of this.)

OK, now say that Juanita marries Roberto Avila Guiterrez. She takes on his paternal last name to become:

Juanita Rodriguez Perez de Avila, or

Juanita Rodriguez de Avila, (dropping her maternal last name) or

Juanita Avila

(Notice the ‘de’ — it indicates that a last name by marriage follows.)

I would file this way:

de Avila, Juanita Rodriguez Perez, or

de Avila, Juanita Rodriguez, or

de Avila, Juanita

Avila, Juanita

(the ‘de’ should be ignored when alphabetizing — so they all go under ‘A’ for Avila when filing)

By the way, if Juanita and Roberto have a child, Ernesto, his name becomes Ernesto Avila Rodriguez.

Avila Rodriguez, Ernesto

Avila, Ernesto

So filing under the First Last Name is usually a safe bet, except in the case where you see a Last Name preceded by a ‘de’. Then you file under the ‘de’ last name.

Edit – I respectfully suggest that when someone adopts a hyphenated sur(family) name, they are changing the sur/family name and not adopting an additional middle name.

Goldman Sachs is neither Goldman nor Sachs -it is Goldman Sachs and is filed under “G”.

EDITIn the case you show, the one with the hyphen would come first!