diff --git a/src/main/resources/errors.properties b/src/main/resources/errors.properties
index 2dbcf87f..66a268ee 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/errors.properties
+++ b/src/main/resources/errors.properties
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ invalid.articleLength=Maximal length of article title is 150 characters.
 invalid.time=Time format is not valid.
 invalid.username=User name is not valid.
 invalid.givenname=Givenname is not valid. Use only characters (a-z, A-Z) or spaces.
-invalid.surname=Surname is not valid. Use only characters (a-z, A-Z) or spaces.
+invalid.surname=Surname does not match the pattern '[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z\\s]*'.
 required.dataFile=No data file was inserted.
 required.dataFileXml=No XML data file was inserted.
 required.dataFileXsd=No schema file was inserted.