Hello friends. I was hoping someone may be able to shed some light on this odd situation (odd, at least to me) in which a widow seems to drop her father's surname as her maiden name and replaces it with her mother's maiden name. I thought surnames were a bit more fixed by this time.One 17 Oct 1698 Efraim Soares(z) signed his intention to marry Abigael Nunes de Almeida (upper left corner). Abigael signed "Nunes Almeida." She was the daughter of Isaac Nunes de Almieda and Ri(b)ca Henriques Pimentel.https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/ondertrouwregisters_1565-1811/zoek/query.nl.pl?i1=1&a1=soares&af1=1&x=20&z=a&s=4Their son, Mordechay de Efraim Soares married Abigail Alvares de Crasto. However, in their marriage intention dated 17 Feb 1735 (lower right corner), Mordechay's mother is given as Abigael Pimentel. https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/ondertrouwregisters_1565-1811/zoek/query.nl.pl?i1=1&a1=soares&x=20&z=a#A24999000033I thought this was simply an error--the Beth Haim card for Mordechay seems to note the name change too.https://www.dutchjewry.org/P.I.G./image/02480101.jpgHowever, I came across the marriage contract (Notary D. van der Brink) for Mordechay de Efraim Soares and Abigael Alvares de Crasto. Abigael Nunes de Almeida (i.e, Mordechay's mother) is clearly identified as "Pimentel" and she signs her surname as "Pimentel." https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/inventaris/5075x.nl.html#NOTA01004000184Based on the two signatures for Abigael (the mother of Mordechay), they are the same person. I've never seen this before, but maybe it is not uncommon. Thanks as always.