The origin of surnames popular in other countries is an interesting topic. But for the most part, people used to be original. Also, Spanish surnames often came from the name of the father or place of birth, which is characteristic of most peoples on the globe. The names of the professions also gave the Spaniards many new middle names.
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Features of the Spanish surname
The main feature of the names of Spain is that they are double. One part is given to the child by the father, and the other by the mother. Moreover, they can be separated by such articles as “de”, “y”, “la”, “las” or “los”.
If a boy is born in the family, then he receives the first part from the names of his father and mother. For example, José Lopez de Cabrera and Maria Sanchez had a son at Campos, his name was given to Rodrigo. The entire boy will be called Rodrigo Lopez de Sanchez.
Spanish masculine surnames are inherited, do not differ from feminine in spelling and pronunciation.
At the same time, getting married, Spaniards remain with their usual initials. If a lady wants to change her last name, then she can take part of the man’s, so Maria Sanchez at Campos, Maria Sanchez de Lopez will already be, but the child will remain Rodrigo Lopez de Sanchez.
There is another interesting detail in the Spanish surnames. Since 1505, according to the Law, the names of brothers and sisters should sound the same. In the country it is not customary to persuade surnames, as in Russia. Our married women may have funny situations. For example, José Garcia at Jimenez married Elizabeth Petrova. Their son Gonzalez was born. According to the Spanish classical laws, he will be called Gonzalez Garcia Petrova.You can go to the Russian Embassy and take a certificate of the decline of surnames, get a male second surname Petrov in the end.
But what if a girl is born a little later? Surnames for women are not inclined, and in children they should be the same, that will be Mirabelle Garcia Petrov in the end. In order to avoid such incidental situations, the full transfer of the paternal surname to children is allowed.
It is worth mentioning the names that were assigned to the Sephardim after the Decree of 1492, which stated that all Spanish Jews should leave the country or adopt Christianity. They received their surnames depending on the place of residence, although the indigenous Spaniards also wore them.
Popular surnames and their meaning
There are very beautiful surnames, which in translation sound sometimes very strange.
Despite this, they are quite popular:
- Aguilera - brood;
- Iglesias - the church;
- Herrero is a blacksmith;
- Zatero - a shoemaker;
- De la Peña - from the rock;
- Cruz - the intersection;
- Moreno - swarthy;
- Campo - the field;
- Rodriguez is a husband who works while his family is resting.
From the examples it is clear that the names of the Spaniards can be not only nouns, but also adjectives or meaningful notation. Most of them sound pretty beautiful in Spanish, but in some cases the translation is disappointing.
The rare names of the Spaniards are quite offensive. For example, Gordo means “fat,” Calvo means “bald,” and Borrego means “lamb.”
The most common
The most famous and common surnames in Spain came from the names:
- Garcia
- Martinez;
- Gonzalez
- Rodriguez;
- Fernandez;
- Lopez
- Sanchez;
- Perez;
- Gomez.
All these names are added by the numerous names of cities and villages of the country and as a result, long interesting Spanish names are obtained, for example, Antonio Rodriguez de San Jose. Here, the last part denotes the origin of the surname bearer.
Kinship
After it became necessary to clarify which Mary or Andreas was mentioned in the conversation, the Spaniards began to add the names of their parents with the combination “el iho de” or “una iha de”, which meant, respectively, “son” or “daughter”.
So the first Maria una iho de Jose or Andreas el iho de Francisco began to appear. In literal translation, such formulations meant: "Mary, who is the daughter of Jose" and "Andreas, who is the son of Francisco."
In the future, the words “son” and “daughter” were omitted, which simplified the pronunciation, but by the name it became clear whether it was a man or a woman. At first, such consoles were used only in relation to really children of those same Jose and Francisco, but later they became surnames and passed on by inheritance.
Sometimes it is mistakenly believed that the prefix "de" indicates that the clan had noble roots or had other privileges. In fact, this is a fallacy.
Status in modern Spain
According to Spanish law, no more than two names and two surnames can be recorded in an official document. Previously, a much larger number were allowed. It was believed that the number of names and surnames indicates the status of the owner, respectively, the more of them, the more famous the Spaniard.
Today, even having two names at official receptions, it is customary to introduce oneself, calling only the first. A wife who has left her last name will simply become a lord with her husband's last name. For example, Isabella Perez Martinez, having married a man named Garcia, may sign as Isabella Perez, Senor Garcia.
And the Spaniards with the full name Andres Iniesta Lujan (football player), Daniel Pedrosa Ramal (motorcycle racer), Pedro Almodovar Caballero (film director), Penelope Cruz Sanchez (actress) will leave only the first parts of the names.
