 This custom, begun in medieval times, is decaying and only has legal validity in Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru, Panama, and to a certain extent in Mexico (where it is optional but becoming obsolete), but is frowned upon by people in Spain, Cuba, and elsewhere.In Peru and the Dominican Republic, women normally conserve all family names after getting married.For example, if "Rosa María Pérez Martínez" marries "Juan Martín De la Cruz Gómez", she will be called "Rosa María Pérez Martínez de De la Cruz", and if the husband dies, she will be called "Rosa María Pérez Martínez Vda.