Portuguese Translation

Two things about Portuguese documents surprise people: the surname order runs opposite to Spanish, and Portuguese and Brazilian documents bearing the same name do not always show the same thing.

5 min readLast updated 1 September 2026

Short answer

Portugal and Brazil are both parties to the Convention, so the apostille chain is valid. Two points need care: surname order (mother's first, father's last) and the separate administrative vocabularies of the two countries.

Surname order: Mother's first, father's last
Two standards: European and Brazilian Portuguese
Apostille: Portugal and Brazil are parties
Orthographic agreement: 1990, which aligned spelling

Surname order runs opposite to Spanish

In Spanish-speaking countries the paternal surname comes first and the maternal second. In Portuguese-speaking countries the order is reversed: mother's first, father's last. In both traditions the final surname is the one passed down, but it comes from a different parent.

The two traditions side by side
System	Example	The inherited surname
Spanish	María García López	García (paternal, first)
Portuguese	Maria Lopes Garcia	Garcia (paternal, last)

The two traditions side by side

Portuguese names may also carry more than two surnames: four and five are common in Portugal. All of them are part of the name and appear in full on official documents, and none is dropped in translation.

Portugal or Brazil?

The 1990 Orthographic Agreement largely unified the two countries' spelling, removing some silent letters and accents. But it governed spelling, not vocabulary, and administrative and legal terms remain markedly different.

Administrative terms by country
Concept	Portugal	Brazil
Identity document	Cartão de Cidadão	RG
Tax number	NIF	CPF
Driving licence	Carta de condução	CNH
Proof of residence	Atestado de residência	Comprovante de residência
Upper secondary school	Ensino secundário	Ensino médio
Bus	Autocarro	Ônibus

Administrative terms by country

The identity and tax rows have direct consequences: a Brazilian CPF and a Portuguese NIF are not the same thing and cannot stand in for one another. We expand these abbreviations, keep the originals and state what each one is.

The single national model for Brazilian documents

Brazilian civil registry documents moved to a single national model after 2010. Older documents were issued in different formats from state to state; the new model carries the same fields nationwide. If what you hold is an older model, a Turkish institution may find the information incomplete.

01
Check which model you have
Older birth certificates can show limited information about parents. If yours is old, you may need a current-model copy from the Brazilian notary.
02
The cartório record governs
In Brazil civil status events are recorded by notaries (cartório) rather than municipalities. The name of the issuing cartório is preserved in the translation.
03
Apostilles go through the notary
Brazil has vested apostille authority in notaries. The cartório that issued the document can also issue the apostille, which shortens the chain.
04
The CPF is asked for separately
Almost every Brazilian procedure asks for a CPF. If your document does not carry one, you may need to obtain it separately.

Spelling and accents

Accented letters such as ç, ã, õ, á, ê and ô occur frequently in Portuguese names and are simplified in passports. Conceição becomes CONCEICAO; João becomes JOAO. The translation follows the passport spelling while also showing the original.

typical number of surnames in a Portuguese name: 2+typical number of surnames in a Portuguese name
the Orthographic Agreement: 1990the Orthographic Agreement
European and Brazilian Portuguese: 2 standardsEuropean and Brazilian Portuguese

One more point: Portuguese also writes dates in day/month/year order with a comma as the decimal separator, as Turkish does. In some Brazilian financial documents, however, a point is used as the thousands separator, which can confuse large figures; whichever form appears is preserved.

Portuguese documents and how we render them

Frequently seen documents
Document	What it is	Our approach
Certidão de nascimento	Birth certificate	Scope varies by country; the register it came from is stated
Certidão de casamento	Marriage certificate	May include the matrimonial property regime, which is preserved
Cartão de Cidadão	Portuguese citizen card	Also carries tax and health numbers
Histórico escolar	Academic transcript	A statement of the grading system is requested separately
Certidão de antecedentes criminais	Criminal record certificate	The distinction between federal and state records is stated
Diploma / Certificado	Diploma and certificate	Two different documents; not to be conflated

Frequently seen documents

Frequently asked questions

My document has three surnames. Which goes on my Turkish ID?

The institution decides. Because the principal surname in the Portuguese tradition is the last one, that is usually taken, but the choice belongs to the institution. The translation shows all the surnames and marks which came from which parent.

Is an apostille enough for a document going to Brazil?

Yes. Brazil is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so sworn translation, notarisation and an apostille are valid. Brazil may require the translation to be made by a sworn translator (tradutor público), so ask the receiving institution.

Will you use European or Brazilian Portuguese?

Whichever suits the destination. If you do not tell us, we infer it from the terms in the document, but that is guesswork. Naming the destination country means the administrative terminology is chosen correctly.

I know Spanish and can read my Portuguese document. Do I still need it translated?

For an official procedure you do. The two languages look close in writing, but the administrative vocabularies differ and the surname order is reversed; the feeling of understanding is not a reliable measure here. The institution also requires a text signed by a sworn translator.