I too have found this problem in the Zacatecas records. It seems people there (Tepetongo) used several surnames interchangeably. Abuelos paternos means paternal grandparents, the baby's father's parents.

Both men and women in some cases used their mother's surnames interchangeably with their father's surnames for some reason. I found one way around it; I would look for the records of the siblings of the baby, and see what names were given for the paternal and maternal grandparents, then I would use the one that they used most of the time, especially if it followed the paternal line. Also check for the records for the baptisms of the baby's parents to see what names they gave for their grandparents. Does that make sense?

Emilie
Port Orchard, WA

> To: research@lists.nuestrosranchos.org
> From: resco16@sbcglobal.net
> Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 13:18:05 -0700
> Subject: [Nuestros Ranchos] Thick Brick Wall!!! lol
>
> I have hit a brick wall and need advice. Looking at old church records for my great grandfather, Teodoro Escobedo, it shows "AP Estevan y Francisca Lozano" which I've always assumed meant his grandparents were Estevan Escovedo and Francisca Lozano (maiden name). However, with the help of that link I put up I found a church record for one of Teodoro's brothers, Enrique, but it was listed as follows: "Enrique Losano" and "AP Estevan Losano y Francisca Lira". It also shows Teodoro's father as a Losano, Gabino Losano, which has confused me. My question is "AP" stands for abuelos paternos right? That would be the grandparents of the person being christened or born, in this case Teodoro right? Or would AP be an older ancestor and am I missing an ancestor? I was told our family came originally from Jalisco but most of these, in fact all, are in Zacatecas which I knew we also came from, just not this far back. Were there a lot of mistakes on the old church records? They have always
s
> eemed to verify what I was told by my grandfather and this has confused me. Thanks for any advice or help.
>
> Robert Escobedo