Spanish surnames or “apellidos” can often tell you a whole story about parents and other relatives, profession, marital status and geographical affiliation. You may also find descriptions of people’s weight, place of residence and social rank: “the thin one”, “church” and “warrior” are all surnames commonly used. Join us on an ever-so-small tour of Spanish surnames.
You may know that most Spaniards have a double surname, one from their father and one from their mother. That is, they inherit the first of their mother’s two surnames as well as the first of their father’s two surnames. As a rule, the mother’s name is the last of the two. Double surnames can be long enough in our digital world, where there is rarely room for long signatures, but many Spanish citizens are not satisfied with double names.
“Surnames were uncommon among most people until the 12th century.”
If both the father’s and mother’s surnames are very common, such as Pérez or Fernández, for example, the child can be equipped with both of the father’s surnames and both of the mother’s surnames, preferably linked together with “y” (“and”). For a total of four names.
Incidentally, it can be really funny if both father and mother have the same first surname. If so, the children, according to naming conventions, should be called Fernández Fernández, for example.
Father Fernández Pérez and mother Fernández Gómez are surnames, the problem is often solved by calling the youngster (First name) and then Pérez Fernández y Gómez Fernández. In other words, Spanish surnames can quickly grow large and unmanageable.
Spaniards keep the surnames they are given at birth throughout their lives. But, the conventions of giving children two surnames are no older than the 19th century. In the past, different practices applied. Surnames were uncommon among most people until the 12th century. There were simply not enough inhabitants or frequent enough contact between local communities and their more distant neighbors, to make them necessary. In other words, they kept track of who was who without using surnames.
Keeping the same name all your life sounds good in principle, but it can be problematic if you are, for example, looking for a Spanish female acquaintance from your youth.
Marriage, “de”, Picasso and mile-long names
When a woman marries, it is not uncommon for her to be referred to by the first of her two surnames followed by “de” and her husband’s first surname. “De” is a preposition that can best be translated with the word “from”. Even if the woman retains her original name in official documents, she may well go by a slightly different name. But “de” is a signal that the lady who was perhaps of interest a number of years ago is currently married.
If you are trying to locate someone in Spain, you should know that entries are arranged alphabetically by first surname. So, for example, you will find the author Gabriel García Márquez under G and not under M.
“Names are arranged alphabetically by the first surname.”
In daily life, it should be mentioned that many people in the Spanish-speaking world settle for the first surname. The famous opera singer Plácido Domingo’s full name is, for example, José Plácido Domingo Embil. Pop singer Enrique Iglesias is actually called Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler.
Some people have bigger reasons than others to simplify and shorten. An extreme example of Spanish naming traditions can be found in the man behind some of the world’s most famous works of art, including the painting Guernica, which was created during the Spanish Civil War. You probably know him as Pablo Picasso, but his full name was nothing less than “Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso”. Such a name takes a few generations to build. Most of us would probably consider ourselves lucky that we don’t have to sign a passport or other documents with such a name.
A Spanish “Average Joe”?
From the 12th century, surnames began to be used little by little. Names that provided more information about the bearer and his or her origin became popular. In the Nordic countries, the most common names are those ending in “-sen”, “-sson” or “-son”. This is also the case in Spain – but in Spanish you add the endings -ez, -az, -iz or -oz. The name Alvarez therefore means son of Alvaro, and Eduardo Fernández is Eduardo, son of Fernándo.
In addition, it is quite common to bear names that say something about the geographical affiliation of the family. As you may already know, the regions are quite strong in Spain with various degrees of autonomy. Names such as Medina and Ortega place the bearer or, in any case, the person’s family in town or cities of the same name.
Even more local are surnames such as Vega, which means one who lives on or near a meadow. Likewise, the name Iglesias indicates a family that has lived near the local church.
Geographical names also include names that are tied together with “de”, for example, Alejandro de Lugo means Alejandro from (the city of) Lugo.
The Spanish also include a description of individuals in surnames. And if you were given the surname Delgado at birth, you should probably watch your weight or size. It is a nickname for a slender person and means something like “the thin one”.
In Spanish it is also common to bear surnames according to the professions of their ancestors. This is similar in English-speaking countries, while we find less of it in for instance the Nordic countries. It is common in Spanish-speaking countries to find surnames such as Zapatero (shoemaker) and Guerrero. The latter simply means warrior or soldier. Vicario should indicate somewhat more peaceful activities. Rodrigo Vicaro, for example, would mean Rodrigo the priest – so one might wonder how there have been so many descendants of Catholic priests, but that’s another story.
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