My first ancestor to stop using Ruiz de Esparza was known as Rafaela
Esparza at the time of her 2nd marriage (January 30, 1782).

My first ancestor to stop using Ruiz de Esparza was known as Rafaela
Esparza at the time of her 2nd marriage (January 30, 1782). Her father,
Felipe-Toribio Ruiz-de-Esparza did use the compound surname. Maybe
they were preparing for Mexico’s Independence when it would not have
been a good time to be connected to the Mother country, Spain. My Gomez
ancestor, Vicente Ferrer Gomez (his brother Agustin continued using the
compound name) had also dropped the Gomez de Mendoza when he married in
April 21, 1766 in the Jalostotitlan/San Juan de los Lagos area of
Jalisco.
What types of surname changes of others experienced?

Irma Gomez Gtz
N. California