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Should José Silva Júnior read Júnior as a suffix, as José Silva Junior does, and where do Filho, Neto and Sobrinho belong? #843
Description
Measured on the local corpus tse-donors (PR #841: TSE candidates' receipts from individuals, 2022 and 2024 elections, data as of 2026-10-18 / 2026-10-22; 848,443 distinct filed names, nearly all in capitals). Counts of filed names ENDING in the word, and where default parse() puts it:
| last word | names | read as |
|---|---|---|
JUNIOR |
13,829 | suffix in all |
JÚNIOR |
991 | family in 990 |
JR / JR. |
1,634 / 16 | suffix in all |
FILHO |
10,979 | family in 10,949 |
NETO |
8,439 | family in 8,420 |
NETTO |
432 | family in 431 |
SOBRINHO |
955 | family in 953 |
FILHA / NETA / SOBRINHA |
66 / 152 / 5 | family |
1. Júnior is not in the vocabulary (a defect, probably)
>>> parse("José Silva Junior") # given José, family Silva, suffix Junior
>>> parse("José Silva Júnior") # given José, middle Silva, family Júnior
tools/vocab/query.py --word júnior finds nothing; junior is in en.toml as a generation word (same_as='jr'). The accented spelling is the standard Portuguese one, and the same donors are written both ways: in 983 records the campaign filed JÚNIOR where the tax registry's name for the same CPF ends JUNIOR. The fix looks like a pt.toml entry (generation, same_as='jr'), but run the vocabulary steps first (tools/name_usage.py Júnior for bearers as a given or family name; Júnior is also used as a given name in Brazil), and check the predicates that test a member's spelling (AGENTS.md: the first accented member of a set; starts_a_credential_run was isascii() once).
2. Filho, Neto, Sobrinho: suffix or family? (a design question)
These are Brazilian agnomens: legally part of the surname on the birth certificate, sorted with it in Brazilian practice, and functionally generational like Junior. The parser reads them as the family name today, which puts the real surname in the middle name (Pedro Alves Filho → given Pedro, middle Alves, family Filho). Three readings to choose between:
- Leave as is (family
Filho): consistent with "legally part of the surname", butfamilyalone then never holds the surname anyone would look the person up by. - Suffix, as
Junior(familyAlves, suffixFilho): matches howJunioralready reads and how the registry pairs show them used (the filer droppedFILHOin 1,679 records where the registry has it,NETOin 969,SOBRINHOin 142, as filers drop suffixes) — but contradicts the legal-surname view, andNeto/Sobrinhoare also ordinary surnames standing alone. - Family including the agnomen (family
Alves Filho): the Brazilian legal reading, but needs a new rule (an agnomen joins the word before it), not just vocabulary.
Collisions to weigh: Neto and Sobrinho are borne as plain surnames (and Neto as a given name in Portugal); Segundo (107 names here, all family) is a Spanish given name and surname. Ordinal endings (Segundo, Terceiro) are a smaller second question.
Packs: this is the kind of word docs/design says a language pack settles (v3 language-packs thinking, #747), so one answer is "pt/BR pack only".
The registry pairs make this measurable: every record carries both the filed name and the registry's name, so a candidate rule can be scored on how often it reads the two forms of one person the same way.
Activity
derek73 commentedon Oct 23, 2026
The same corpus pairs each filed name with the tax registry's name for the same donor, which shows how the agnomens are abbreviated in typed data (records fetched 2026-10-22, where the registry's name ends in the word and the filed name ends in another spelling of it):
JUNIORJRJUNIORJÚNIORFILHOFHNETONTFILHOFOSOBRINHOSBNone of
FH,FO,NT,SBis in the vocabulary in any reading (tools/vocab/query.py), so each reads as the family name today (PEDRO ALVES FH→ familyFH, middleALVES). Whatever this issue decides for the full word should probably cover these spellings too, after a collision check (NTandSBas credentials, for a start). Truncations (JUNIO47,SOBR50,FILH20) and single initials (F,J,N) look like noise rather than conventions and are left out.derek73 commentedon Oct 23, 2026
A related accent case turned up in the same corpus, though the word is not an agnomen.
local_corpora.py pairs tse-donors --agreement(#852) parses both spellings of each donor and compares the surnames. Among the pairs whose two spellings differ only by accents (fetch of 2026-10-22), 1,310 of 43,724 read different surnames:JÚNIOR/JUNIORin 866 (this issue), andSÁ/SAin 255.sais in the vocabulary as a credential (en.toml, withNOT may_be_name, and a military reading, Seaman Apprentice), so the unaccented spelling of the Portuguese surname Sá is read as a suffix:AGENTS.md already counts
saamong the suffix acronyms borne as surnames (measured 2026-08-23). The tse pairs give a figure for how often it is written unaccented: 255 donors whose filed name ends inSÁare registered asSA. That may be a separate question (whethersashould bemay_be_name, asbabecame under decisions/suffix-acronym-collisions) rather than part of this one. It is noted here because it is the same accent-sensitivity, and the same corpus measures it.Add a pairs view to the local corpora (#852)
Add Júnior as a generation word (#843) (#856)
derek73 commentedon Oct 25, 2026
#890 (phase 2h of #752) reads the agnomens as suffixes, gated by the word count. With a word to spare,
Pedro Alves Filhogives familyAlves, suffixFilho. A two-word name keeps the agnomen as its family name (Ana Neto,PEDRO FILHO). The words covered areFilho,Filha,Neto,Neta,Netto,SobrinhoandSobrinha. #890 references this issue without closing it, because two things are still open here.1. The filed abbreviations. On tse-donors, a filed name that abbreviates the agnomen still reads it as the family name. The registry spelling of the same donor now reads the agnomen as the suffix, so those pairs read differently. Pairs whose only difference is the abbreviated last word, measured 2026-10-25:
FHFILHONTNETOFOFILHOSOBRSOBRINHOFILHFILHOFFILHONETNETOSBSOBRINHOThere are smaller ones as well (
FIL,N,NE,FI,SOB,FL), and misspellings (FIILHO,FIHO). Listing an abbreviation as an agnomen spelling has to weigh what else the short capitals are.FH,NTandSBare also initials run together and credential-shaped, andFandNare single letters, which rules/T5 reads as initials.2. Shapes the gate reads that may be worth a second look. Each is recorded as an accepted cost in rules/S11:
Pedro J. Netogives familyJ.. 568 tse names have this shape, and the initial most often abbreviates the surname.PEDRO JUNIOR FILHOgives suffixJUNIOR FILHO. 5 tse names.Agnomens as such are decided: rules/S11 and decisions/S11 hold the measurements, and decisions/generational-words' Standing line now points at them.
derek73 commentedon Oct 25, 2026
Abbreviated agnomens, now that #890 has landed. #890 reads
Filho,Neto,Sobrinhoand the feminines as gated generation readings, counted by words to spare. TSE's donor filings often abbreviate them, and the abbreviations are still read as the family name, so those filed/registry pairs still disagree.Counted 2026-10-25 over tse-donors pairs that are identical except for the last word, where the registry spells the agnomen and the filed name abbreviates it:
FILHOFH230,FO99,FILH17,F15,FIL10NETONT122,NET12,N6,NE5SOBRINHOSOBR19,SB11,SOB4NETTO,NETANT6 and 2,NET1Questions
same_asits full word, under the same count-only gate? Candidates areFH,FO,NT,SOBRand maybeFILHandNET. Each needs a check against bearers, as any vocabulary addition does (name_usage.py, and NPPES for a credential reading). For example,FOandNTmay collide with surnames or credentials elsewhere.FandNare written exactly as an initial is, so nothing in the writing tells the two apart. By Gate generation readings by kind: fils, the Brazilian agnomens, default = false (#752, phase 2h) #890's rule they would bedefault = false, a pack question for phase 3, or simply left as they are.pt-BR.toml, besidenetto.