Discrete Z_N symmetries are a common "artifact" of beyond the standard model physics models. They provide different avenues for constructing consistent scenarios for lepton and quark mixing patterns, radiative neutrino mass generation as well as dark matter stabilization. In this talk I will show how these symmetries can be derived from the spontaneous breaking of the Abelian U(1) factors contained in the global flavor symmetry transformations of the gauge invariant kinetic Lagrangian. I will show how this idea can be implemented in scenarios with right-handed neutrinos.