 In ancient times a patronymic was commonly used – surnames like "Gonçalves" ("son of "Gonçalo""), "Fernandes" ("son of "Fernando""), "Nunes" ("son of "Nuno""), "Soares" ("son of "Soeiro""), "Sanches" ("son of "Sancho""), "Henriques" ("son of "Henrique""), "Rodrigues" ("son of "Rodrigo"") which along with many others are still in regular use as very prevalent family names.In Medieval times, Portuguese nobility started to use one of their estates' names or the name of the town or village they ruled as their surname, just after their patronymic.Soeiro Mendes da Maia bore a name "Soeiro", a patronymic "Mendes" ("son of Hermenegildo – shortened to Mendo") and the name of the town he ruled "Maia".