That most bakers in early modem Portugal were women is striking when compared to northern Europe, where, as historian Merry Wiesner has noted for Germany, a woman could only become a baker if she married a baker.
Not only were references to work identity highly gendered and less frequently noted for women, women were also more likely to have their marital status or other family associations revealed.
Most people also had an occupation or even several, but this was infrequently noted for women, whereas men's occupational titles were often provided, even in cases when the men in question were dead.
Again, the most common family link noted for men was that of son-in-law, followed by that of son, servant, vassal, grandson, brother-in-law, and nephew.
In this type of record most individuals were listed by their full name and nothing else, although a few men's occupational titles were listed while fewer were noted for the women.