In Spanish-speaking countries (exception made of Argentina), people normally have at least two surnames. The first one is inherited from the father, the other from the mother. Parents usually pass on to their children the name they inherited from their father, but this is not mandatory. Last name redirects here. ... For other uses, see Name (disambiguation). ...

The father's surname is written before the mother's surname (although there are occasional exceptions to this rule). Thus, for instance, José Vasconcelos Calderón was Señor Vasconcelos ("Mr. Vasconcelos" in English), not Señor Calderón, and "Vasconcelos" was not his middle name. José Vasconcelos (Oaxaca, Oaxaca, 1882 – Mexico City, 1959) was a Mexican writer, thinker and politician. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The traditional naming conventions are now changing and reverting to historical norms where surname conventions were more fluid. The child's last name can come either from the father or from the mother, though the latter is very uncommon. This change is being driven by changes in attitude toward gender equality. For example, current Spanish law says that all the children in a family must have the same system of surnames: if the eldest has the mother's first surname before the father's, then the rest of the siblings must use the same order. Even before these laws, people could change the order in special cases, such as clauses of inheritances (there are, for example, cases in which the mother's surname is used in the first place, and the father's surname is used in the second). Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ... A male Caucasian toddler child A child (plural: children) is a young human. ... Last name redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ... This article is about the domestic group. ... Last name redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ...

Spanish names

Map showing the most common surname by Spanish province of residence

Map of Spain showing the percentage of population born in each province corresponding to the 10 most common surnames for that province. Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain) 2006

Usually, the name of the father is put before the name of the mother; these names are then known as the apellido paterno or primer apellido ("paternal surname" or "first surname") and the apellido materno or segundo apellido (maternal or second surname) respectively. Of course, there are many cases in which the father's name is not applied, nowadays (a lot of people applies, for example, the first name of a famous character in politics, in films, in television, etc. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1705x1185, 52 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Gonzalez (surname) Iberian naming customs García Sánchez ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1705x1185, 52 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Gonzalez (surname) Iberian naming customs García Sánchez ... In addition to its autonomous communities, Spain is divided into fifty provinces. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) Statistics National Institute, is the official organisation in Spain that collects statistics about demography, economy, and spanish society. ...

First names

First names are chosen by the parents and, for those within the Catholic tradition, are given by a priest in the ceremony of baptism. In Spain the newborn inscription has to be made before administrative authorities at the Registro Civil or Civil Register.^[1] Those who do not baptise their children simply update the latter register, which is the only one binding. Unlike other cultures, such as the Polynesian for which the name of the deceased may become taboo, a newborn's first name is often elected to honour a living or dead relative, usually of first or second grade. The new namesake is often distinguished by a diminutive. For example, the television director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, son of Narciso Ibáñez Menta, is nicknamed "Chicho." This article is about the Christian religious act of Baptism. ... Polynesian culture refers to the aboriginal culture of the Polynesian-speaking peoples of Polynesia and the Polynesian outliers. ... Tapu (or tabu) is a concept existing in many Polynesian societies, including traditional Hawaiian, Tongan, and Maori cultures. ... If a person, place, or thing is named after a different person, place, or thing, then one is said to be the namesake of the other. ... A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment. ... Narciso Ibáñez Menta (August 25, 1912–15 May 2004) was a Spanish theatre, film, and television actor. ...

Another traditional source of names are the nomina of Catholic saints, with their surnames often being used as first names. Hence Javier (also Francisco Javier) after Saint Francis Xavier or Borja after Saint Francis Borgia. In rural parts or for foundlings, the name of one of the saints of the day the child was born could be used resulting in people named after mostly forgotten saints' names. An extreme case is Huerta de Rey, Burgos, Spain, recorded in the Guiness book for its strange names, where the commonness of surnames prompted the local registrar to recommend the most unusual names^[2] he could find. Francoist Spain legislation used to limit the fancy of parents' choice to Christian and classical names. Nowadays the only limit in Spain is the dignity of the newborn, so one cannot be given a name which is insulting for oneself or for the general public, for example "Lucifer". Similar restrictions applied for "diminutives or familiar and colloquial variants that have not been recognized in their own right or those that could cause confusion in the identification of the person or its gender."^[3] However, the new Spanish law on gender identity^[4] has authorized the registration of diminutives.^[5] Specially during the first half of the 20th century, names like Floreal or Volterina in Spain or the Plata showed the adherence of the parents to anarchism.^[6] For the General Roman Calendar as it was in 1955, see Traditional Catholic Calendar. ... Look up Javier in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Not to be confused with St. ... Saint Francis Xavier (Basque: San Frantzisko Xabierkoa; Spanish: San Francisco Javier; Portuguese: São Francisco Xavier; Chinese: 聖方濟各沙勿略) (7 April 1506 - 2 December 1552) was a Spanish pioneering Roman Catholic Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order). ... This is a list of articles on Wikipedia. ... St. ... Huerta de Rey is a municipality located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain. ... The cathedral Our Lady of Burgos. ... Some world record attempts are more unusual than others. ... The Spanish Civil War officially ended on 1 April 1939, the day Francisco Franco announced the end of hostilities. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... This article is about the star or fallen angel. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Floréal was the eight month in the French Republican Calendar. ... For other uses, see Voltaire (disambiguation). ... This page is about the South American estuary. ... Anarchist redirects here. ...

The people of Venezuela--as well as Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and other Latin-American countries with proximity to the Caribbean--have taken the custom of fancy names from foreign languages, such as "Yesaidú" ("Yes, I do") or "Hitler Adonis," or composites such as "Yolimar" (from the combination of the names of each of the parents: "Yolanda" and "Mario") or "Luyen" (from the combination of "Lucía" and "Enrique") ^[7][8]. Motto: Spanish: Dios, Patria, Libertad (English: God, Homeland, Liberty) Anthem: Quisqueyanos valientes Capital (and largest city) Santo Domingo Spanish Government Republic  - President Leonel Fernández Independence from Haiti   - Date 27 February 1844  Area  - Total 48,442 km² (130st) 18,810 sq mi   - Water (%) 1. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... West Indies redirects here. ... Hitler redirects here. ... For other uses of the name Adonis, see Adonis (disambiguation). ... Yolanda of Flanders ruled the Latin Empire in Constantinople for her husband Peter of Courtenay from 1217 to 1219. ... Mario ) is a video game character created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and the official mascot of Nintendo. ... A list of films produced in Argentina by year in the 1960s in the List of Argentine films // Argentine film at the Internet Movie Database      Cinema of Argentina Film Chronology â€¢ 1897-1929 â€¢ 1930s â€¢ 1940s â€¢ 1950s â€¢ 1960s â€¢ 1970s â€¢ 1980s â€¢ 1990s â€¢ 2000s Actors â€¢ Awards â€¢ Composers â€¢ Directors â€¢ Editors â€¢ Films A-Z â€¢ Cinematographers â€¢ Festivals... Look up Enrique in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In August 2007, the law draft for the National Electoral Council disallowed names that "ridicule", are "extravagant", "difficult to pronounce" or inductive to gender confusion^[9]. After protests, the limiting article was removed from the draft^[10]. Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... The National Electoral Council (Spanish: Consejo Nacional Electoral), or CNE, is the institution in charge of all electoral processes that take place in Venezuela. ...

María

Regarding forenames, for religious (Christianity) reasons in a custom that is in some decline but by no means a thing of the past, girls were commonly named after Mary, mother of Jesus (the Virgin Mary), with the addition of the name of one of her shrines, a geographical location where someone had a vision of her, or a religious concept. To avoid confusion, a woman omits the "Mary of the..." part of her name and uses only the last, except on official documents and very formal occasions. So, the real names of "Ángeles", "Pilar" and "Luz" (literally "Angels", "Pillar" and "Light") are often "María de los Ángeles", "María del Pilar" and "María de la Luz." Each of these is considered a single (composite) name. A girl might be named simply "María", however. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... According to the New Testament, Mary (Judeo-Aramaic מרים Maryām Bitter; Arabic مريم (Maryam); Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; Geez: ማሪያም, Māryām; Syriac: Mart, Maryam, Madonna), was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, who at the time of his conception was the betrothed wife of Saint Joseph (cf. ...

"María" can be part of a male name if prefixed by a masculine one: for example, José María Aznar. Conversely, a girl could be named "María José" or "Marijosé" ("José" referring to Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary). Other usages are possible, like "José del Pilar", who could be called either "José" or "Pilar," but this usage for male names has fallen out of use.   (born in Madrid on February 25, 1953) is a Spanish politician who served as Spanish prime minister from 1996 to 2004. ... For other uses, see Saint Joseph (disambiguation). ... The term Virgin Mary has several different meanings: Mary, the mother of Jesus, the historical and multi-denominational concept of Mary Blessed Virgin Mary, the Roman Catholic theological and doctrinal concept of Mary Marian apparitions shrines to the Virgin Mary Virgin Mary in Islam, the Islamic theological and doctrinal concept...

In writing, the name "María" is commonly abbreviated "Mª" or "Ma."

Number of names

Spanish official records at the Registro Civil keep at most two simple forenames or one composite forename, plus two surnames per person. However, people can be baptized with more than two forenames (e.g. the son of Infanta Elena, Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos), but this is mostly restricted to members of the royalty and nobility. A given name specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name. ... Last name redirects here. ... This article is about the Christian religious act of Baptism. ... A given name specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name. ... Elena of Spain The Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (Elena María Isabel Dominica de los Silos de Borbón y de Grecia de Marichalar); born December 20, 1963, in Madrid), is the eldest daughter of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía, and third in the line of succession... Don Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y de Borbón (born July 17, 1998), is the eldest son of HRH The Infanta Elena and Jaime de Marichalar, Duke of Lugo, and fourth in the Line of succession to the Spanish Throne, after his mother. ... Royalty may refer to either: the royal family of a country with a monarchy royalties the payment made to the owner of a copyright, patent, or trademark, for the use thereof This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ...

People can also keep track of more than two surnames. This is most frequent in the Spanish Basque Country. For example, the founder of Basque nationalism, Sabino Arana, demanded several Basque surnames from his followers to certify that there was no admixture of Spanish or other foreigners in their ancestry. Last name redirects here. ... Pays Basque) see Northern Basque Country. ... Political Spain in 1854, after the first Carlist War The Arrano beltza (black eagle) flag is waved by radical Basque nationalists, mainly supporters of ETA and HB, along the Ikurriña and the Navarrese flag as a claim of unity of the Basque lands. ... Sabino Arana Goiri, self-styled as Arana ta Goiritaŕ Sabin (January 26, 1865 – November 25, 1903), Spain, founder of the Basque Nationalist Party and a inventor of previously non-existent Basque nationalism. ... Last name redirects here. ...

The particle "de"

In Latin American countries, when a woman marries, she may choose to drop her own maternal surname and adopt her husband's paternal surname, with "de" ("of") inserted between. Thus if Ángela López Sáenz marries Tomás Portillo Blanco, she may style herself Ángela López de Portillo. This convention, however, is more a social styling than an official renaming such as takes place in English-speaking countries: on official documents, she will still be identified by her two maiden surnames. In many areas, however, this tradition is now seen as an antiquated form of discrimination against women (the de can be read as implying ownership) and is consequently on the decline. A more formal version is Ángela López, Sra. de Portillo ("Sra." is an abbreviation for señora: "Mrs.", "wife"). In Spain, a woman does not ever change her official surnames when she marries. An example of the uncertainty of this usage is in Don Quixote 2, V where Teresa Panza reminds that she should be properly called by her father's surname.^[11] Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Last name redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A maiden may refer to: A female virgin. ... Last name redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mrs (or Mrs. ... This article is about the fictional character and novel. ... The following is a list of characters in the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. ... Last name redirects here. ...

Transmission of surnames

If, as is very common in Spanish-speaking families, Ángela López and Tomás Portillo choose to perpetuate their forenames into the next generation, their children would be Tomás Portillo López and Ángela Portillo López.

The order rule means that the surnames of the female branch get lost as generations pass. If the female surname is especially prestigious or the combination is improper, the order may be altered. While Spain has recently introduced legal provisions to allow parents to freely decide the order of surnames, the overwhelming majority of Spaniards continue to follow the traditional pattern of father's first and mother's second. Last name redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ...

It should be noted, however, that historically the transmission of paternal name to surnames was not the convention. Prior to the mid-18th century, in many Spanish-speaking countries, children were given the maternal surname and in some occasions even that of a grandparent shared by neither of the child's parents due to prestige or land inheritance. The paternal-maternal combination and name order is a phenomenon that developed only in the last two hundred years. Last name redirects here. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Last name redirects here. ...

As is still the case with Catalan names, in Spanish names the option exists to connect the two surnames by means of y ("and"): one well known example of this is José Ortega y Gasset. Thus, Tomás could choose to style himself "Tomás Portillo y Blanco", albeit at the risk, in most of the contemporary world, of appearing affected or self-consciously following a slightly antiquated use. This use of "y", though, remains common practice in the Philippines. Last name redirects here. ... José Ortega y Gasset (May 9, 1883 - October 18, 1955) was a Spanish philosopher. ...

The prevalence of this custom of using two surnames varies. For example, Argentina is a Spanish-speaking country, but most Argentinians' identity is recorded at birth with only their paternal surname. Thus, one would only occasionally hear Jorge Luis Borges referred to as "Jorge Luis Borges Acevedo", although a native Spanish speaker would certainly understand that usage. On the other hand, in some countries, such as Honduras, two surnames are required to be recorded on the birth certificate. This can cause difficulties in cases where the father's identity is unknown, or for immigrants who only have one surname. Last name redirects here. ... Borges redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ...

In Spain, if the father is either unknown or does not want to recognize his child, the newborn will take both surnames of the mother. Thus, if María López Martínez has a child by an unknown father, and she wants to name her son José, he will be called José López Martínez. Because this could lead to confusion, as that name could coincide with one of the mother's siblings, the surnames could be reversed and the child could be named José Martínez López. In some Latin American countries, it is also common for the newborn to use only his mother's paternal surname both as his paternal and maternal surnames, in which case he will be named José López López. Last name redirects here. ... Last name redirects here. ...

Often, one specifies for brevity only one of the two surnames, usually the one inherited from one's father. Thus, if one were to shorten the name of Gabriel García Márquez, it should be "García", not "Márquez" (although in the particular case of this Colombian writer it is more likely to be his nickname "Gabo"). Last name redirects here. ... Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez, also known as Gabo (born March 6, 1927[1] in Aracataca, Colombia) is a Colombian novelist, journalist, editor, publisher, political activist, and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. ... The Republic of Colombia is a country in north-western South America. ...

Occasionally, a person with a common paternal surname and an uncommon maternal surname becomes widely known by the maternal surname, as with the artist Pablo Ruiz Picasso, best known simply as "Picasso", or the poet Federico García Lorca, often known simply as "Lorca", or even the Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, best known as "Zapatero". Conversely, Eduardo Hughes Galeano is known as "Galeano" because his paternal surname is completely foreign to Spanish. In his childhood he occasionally signed as "Eduardo Gius" as an approximate pronunciation of "Hughes". A young Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso, formally Pablo Ruiz Picasso, (October 25, 1881 - April 8, 1973) was one of the recognized masters of 20th century art. ... Federico García Lorca Federico García Lorca (June 5, 1898 – August 19, 1936) was a Spanish poet and dramatist, also remembered as a painter, pianist, and composer. ...   (IPA: ) (born 4 August 1960), better known under his second surname Zapatero, is the Prime Minister of Spain. ... Eduardo Hughes Galeano (born September 3, 1940) is an Uruguayan journalist whose books have been translated into many languages. ...

Not every surname is a single word. A particularly felicitious or renowned combination of paternal and maternal surnames may propagate to the following generation as a double-barrelled paternal surname, especially when the paternal surname alone would be considered "undistinguished". This was the case with former Mexican President José López Portillo, whose mother was a "Pacheco" and whose full style was "José López Portillo y Pacheco"; another extreme example of this is former madrilenian mayor José María Álvarez del Manzano y López del Hierro, whose name is formed by a composed forename (José María) and two composed surnames (Álvarez del Manzano and López del Hierro). Other double-barreled surnames derive from church names, as "San José". When a person has one of these double-barreled surnames, it is more common to use the 'y' between the paternal and maternal component parts. // Between the time of Emperor Agustín de Iturbides abdication (March 19, 1823) and Guadalupe Victorias assumption of the office of President (October 10, 1824), there was a brief period when the executive power of the government was held by a committee. ... José López Portillo y Pacheco (June 16, 1920 – February 17, 2004) was the President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982. ... This is a list of mayors (alcaldes) of Madrid since 1900. ... For other uses, see Saint Joseph (disambiguation). ...

Castile and Alava regions

It was also common for surnames originating from Castile and Álava to have the form "[patronymic] de [placename]". Hence for José Ignacio López de Arriortúa, "López de Arriortúa" is just one surname. This can cause confusion as both "López" and "de Arriortúa" can be found as single surnames. In Spain, unlike in neighboring France, the prefix "de" (meaning "of") on a surname does not typically indicate noble origin. It may be introduced just to mark a surname that can be misunderstood as a forename. Thus, Luis de Miguel Pérez marks that his forename is just Luis, not Luis Miguel. In short forms, the de may be included (Hernando de Soto is known as "de Soto") or not (Felipe de Borbón is a "Borbón", not a "de Borbón"). This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Álava province Álava (Basque: Araba) is a province of northern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. ... Hernando de Soto is a: Spanish explorer. ... Don Felipe, Prince of Asturias (Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia) born January 30, 1968), is the third child of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain. ... This article or section should include material from France: Wars of Religion - Bourbon Dynasty The House of Bourbon dates from at least the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by a Lord, vassal of France. ...

The particle "y"

Beginning in the 16th century, the Spanish custom of separating the two surnames with the copulative conjunction "y" (meaning "and") arose. Examples of this custom include names such as Luis de Góngora y Argote (16th- and 17th-century Andalusian writer), Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (18th- and 19th-century Aragonese painter) and José Ortega y Gasset (Madrilenian philosopher and essayist of the 20th century). The convention was used by Latin American clergymen, for example, Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez in El Salvador. This use gained legal sanction with the Ley de Registro Civil in 1870, which required birth certificates to indicate the two surnames joined with the particle "y". In this fashion, the birth certificates of Spanish politicians Felipe González Márquez and José María Aznar López appeared as “Felipe González y Márquez" and "José María Aznar y López". However it is less frequent than its Catalan version. Luis de Góngora, in a portrait by Diego Velázquez. ... Goya redirects here. ... José Ortega y Gasset (May 9, 1883 - October 18, 1955) was a Spanish philosopher. ... Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 – March 24, 1980), commonly known as Monseñor Romero, was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. ... Felipe González Márquez (born March 5, 1942) is a Spanish socialist politician. ...   (born in Madrid on February 25, 1953) is a Spanish politician who served as Spanish prime minister from 1996 to 2004. ...

The particle "y" is often found useful in avoiding confusion when the first (paternal) surname is of a type that could also be a forename. For example, if the physiologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal had not used it, it might have appeared that he had the double-barreled forename Santiago Ramón and that Cajal was the only surname he used. Other examples of this use include the jurist Francisco Tomás y Valiente and the churchman Vicente Enrique y Tarancón. Examples of confusion when "y" is not used in such a case are the football player Martín Vázquez, whose full name is Rafael Martín Vázquez but who is believed by many fans to have Martín as his forename, and the linguist Fernando Lázaro Carreter, who was sometimes addressed (to his annoyance) as Don Lázaro. Santiago Ramón y Cajal Santiago Ramón y Cajal (May 1, 1852 – October 17, 1934) was a famous Spanish histologist, physician, and Nobel laureate. ... Soccer redirects here. ... Rafael Martín Vázquez (born September 25, 1965 in Madrid) was a Spanish football midfielder. ... Fernando Lázaro Carreter (Zaragoza, April 13, 1923 — March 4, 2004, in Madrid) was a Spanish linguist, journalist and literary critic who worked to improve the way the Spanish language is spoken and written, who penned the hugely popular 1997 book El Dardo en la Palabra (The Dart in the...

In the case that the second surname starts with I (or vowel Y or Hi), the particle becomes e, following Spanish rules of euphony, as in Eduardo Dato e Iradier. Eduardo Dato e Iradier (La Coruña, 12 August 1856 – Madrid, 8 March 1921). ...

'Son of' and 'ez'

Although the use of double surnames renders the matter far less common than in the English-speaking world, a man who has the identical name to his father may suffix his name with "(h)" (standing for "hijo", meaning "son"), analogously to the English language "Jr.".

In Spanish, most surnames ending in "-ez" originated as patronymics. Thus "López" originally meant "son of Lope", "Fernández" meant "son of Fernando", "Ramírez" meant "son of Ramiro", "González" meant "son of Gonzalo","Núñez" meant "son of Nuño", etc. Other common examples of this are "Hernández" (from Hernando, a variant of "Ferdinand" / "Fernando"), "Rodríguez" (from "Rodrigo"), "Sánchez" (from "Sancho"), "Martínez" (from "Martín"), and "Álvarez" (from "Álvaro"). Not all last names in -ez have this origin, however. Because the Spanish letter "z" is pronounced identically to the letter "s" in parts of Andalusia and in all of Spanish America (or about 9/10 of the Spanish-speaking world), one finds in Spanish America spellings such as "Chávez" (e.g. Hugo Chávez), and "Cortez" (e.g. Alberto Cortez), which are not patronymics and which traditionally were (and in Spain still are) always spelled "Chaves" (e.g. Manuel Chaves), and "Cortés" (e.g. "Hernán Cortés"). The new spellings were no doubt created by analogy with the large number of last names in -ez. Ferdinand is a Germanic given name composed of the words for prepared and journey. ... Rodrigo is a Spanish and Portuguese name derived from the Germanic name *HrōþirÄ«k(i)az (famous ruler). It can refer to: Joaquín Rodrigo, a 20th century composer King Roderic, the last Visigothic king Rodrigo Bueno, Argentine singer Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid Campeador... Look up Martin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Andalusia (disambiguation). ... Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (pronounced ) (born July 28, 1954) is the current President of Venezuela. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ... Manuel Chaves (left) and Franciso Garrido (Greens leader) (right) Manuel Chaves González (born 7 July 1945 in Ceuta) is the President of the Spanish region of Andalucia since 1990. ... Hernán(do) Cortés Pizarro, 1st Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca (1485–December 2, 1547) was the conquistador who became famous for leading the military expedition that initiated the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. ...

Foundlings

Foundlings presented a problem to registrars. Often they were named after the saint of the day they were found, the patron saint of the town or even the name of the town itself. For surnames, they received Expósito ("Foundling"), which marked them and their descendants as people without pedigree, or the more compassionate usage of choosing one among those most common among the population. In 1921, Spanish law allowed that the paperwork for changing the surname Expósito was cost-free.^[12] Child abandonment is the practice of abandoning offspring outside of legal adoption. ...

Also, it was very common for foundlings to be named Iglesia(s) ("Church(es)") or Cruz (Cross) due to fact that most of them were raised in orphanages run by the Catholic Church. Blanco (White, or blank) was quite usual as well, as they had unknown parents.

Spanish surnames among Filipinos

On November 21, 1849 the Spanish administration of the Philippines, under the authority of Governor General Narciso Clavería, decreed a systematic distribution of family names and the implementation of the Spanish naming system for the use of the natives. is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1849 (MDCCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

With the Clavería decree the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos ("Alphabetical Catalogue of Surnames") was produced. It was a collection of surnames mostly from Spain, though many were also native Filipino words of flora and fauna, and Hispanicized Chinese numerals; which is why so many Spanish-sounding surnames found among Filipinos cannot be found among the peoples of the Hispanic world, as many are merely Hispanic in sound. The Catálogo alfabético de apellidos (English: Alphabetical Catalog of Surnames) is a book of surnames published in the Philippines in the mid-19th century. ...

Surnames of Spanish nobility, as well as surnames belonging to the Spanish colonial administrators in the Philippines (which had acquired connotation of prestige in the archipelago) were explicitly prohibited. Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ...

The colonial authorities implemented this decree mainly because too many early Christianized Filipinos named themselves after religious instruments and saints. Apparently, Christianization had worked much too well in that there were soon too many people surnamed "de los Santos", "de la Cruz", "del Rosario", "Bautista", etc. This caused consternation among the Spanish authorities, as it added difficulty to administration efforts.

Another custom deemed unacceptable by the Spanish, was that Filipino siblings took different last names, as they always had done before the Spaniards. All these "problems" resulted in a less efficient system of collecting taxes.

Because of the mass implementation of Spanish surnames and the Iberian naming system in the Philippines, among Filipinos a Spanish surname does not necessarily indicate Spanish ancestry. Of the Philippine population, only around 3.6% is composed of Spanish-mestizos (those of mixed Filipino and Spanish ancestry). According to the 2000 Census, the population of the Philippines was 76,504,077. ... Mestizo is a Spanish term that was formerly used in the Spanish Empire to designate people of mixed European (Spaniard) and Amerindian ancestry living in the region of Latin America. ...

See also: Hispanic culture in the Philippines. The British historian Arnold J. Toynbee once asserted in one of his works that the Philippines is a Latin American country that was transported to the Orient by a gigantic marine wave. While it’s impossible to deny the many Hispanic contributions made to the culture of the Philippines, Toynbee...

Hypocoristics

Many Spanish names can be shortened into hypocoristic forms using a diminutive suffix, especially -(c)ito/a. Names can be somewhat more arbitrary. The use of each of these forms varies a lot between countries and regions, to the point that some of them are very common in some countries and unheard of in some other countries. A list of common (and not so common) names and their shortened forms: A hypocoristic (or hypocorism) is a lesser form of the given name used in more intimate situations, as a term of endearment, a pet name. ... A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment. ...

Other languages in Spain

After the recognition of co-official languages in Spain, the law allowed the translation or respelling of names to the official languages. Speakers of other languages in Spain (Catalan-Valencian, Basque, Galician, Astur-Leonese, Aragonese, Aranese) whose names had been rendered as Spanish equivalents (often due to the language politics of the Franco era) and who now wish to return to their vernacular name, enjoy a simplified name-change procedure in their respective autonomous community. Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, and in the city of LAlguer in the Italian island of Sardinia. ... This page deals with language. ... Basque (native name: euskara) is the language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain and the adjoining region of South-Western France. ... Galician (Galician: galego, IPA: ) is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community with the constitutional status of historic nationality, located in northwestern Spain and small bordering zones in neighbouring autonomous communities of Asturias and Castilla y León. ... Astur-Leonese is a Romance language group of the West Iberian group, spoken in the Spanish provinces of Asturias (Asturian Language, asturianu, or Bable), León, Zamora and Salamanca (Leonese language, Llïonés). ... Aragonese redirects here. ... Aranese (aranés in Occitan/Gascon/Aranese) is a variety of Pyrenean Gascon (a dialect of the Occitan language), spoken in Val dAran, in northwestern Catalonia (Spain), where it is one of the three official languages besides Catalan and Spanish. ... The Spanish Civil War officially ended on 1 April 1939, the day Francisco Franco announced the end of hostilities. ...

Catalan-Valencian names

In the Catalan-Valencian language territories there are very similar conventions as in Spanish territories, except that a person's two surnames are usually separated by "i" ("and"). A real-world example would be the ex-presidents of the Generalitat de Catalunya Pasqual Maragall i Mira and of the Generalitat Valenciana Joan Lerma i Blasco. The Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia ) is the institution in which the self-government of Catalonia is politically organised. ... Pasqual Maragall i Mira (born January 13, 1941, Barcelona) was the 127th President of Generalitat de Catalunya (the government of Catalonia). ... Capital Valencia Official languages Valencian (Catalan) and Spanish (Castilian) Area  – total  – % of Spain Ranked 8th  23 255 km²  4,6% Population  – Total (2003)  – % of Spain  – Density Ranked 4th  4 326 708  10,3%  186,05/km² Demonym  – English  – Valencian  – Spanish  Valencian  valencià/valenciana  valenciano/valenciana Statute of Autonomy July 10...

"Mohamed"

As the map above shows, Mohamed is a very frequent surname in Ceuta (10,410^[13] out of the people born in Ceuta) and Melilla (7,982^[13]), the Spanish enclaves in North Africa. "Mohamed" is one of the Spanish spellings used by Spanish-speaking Muslims for the name of their prophet Muhammad. As such, it is frequent as part of a male Arabic name. However, when Spanish Christian officials required the bearers of an Arabic name to register, they simply took the first name as the given name and the following ones as surnames. Hence, many Muslim Ceutans and Melillans share surnames while not having a common ancestry. To further confuse the issue, Mohamed is the most popular first name for newborn males,^[14] so it is not unusual to have a Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed: the first "Mohamed" being the child's name forename, the second is the father's second name, and the third is the maternal grandfather's second name. ^[15] Look up Muhammad in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Capital Ceuta City Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked  28 km²   Population  â€“ Total (2006)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked  75,861    2,709. ... Capital Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked  20 km²   Population  â€“ Total (2006)  â€“ % of Spain  â€“ Density Ranked  66,871    3,343. ... Look up Muhammad in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... The tughra (stylized signature) of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire. ...

See also

• List of personal naming conventions (for other languages)
• Name for general coverage of the topic
• Portuguese names

It is nearly universal for a person to have a name; the rare exceptions occur in the cases of mentally disturbed parents, or wild children growing up in isolation. ... For other uses, see Name (disambiguation). ... A typical Portuguese name is composed of one or two given names, and two family names. ...

Notes and references

Don (usually preceded in English by the), derived from Latin Dominus, is a Spanish (pron. ... A permille or per mille is a tenth of a percent or one part per thousand. ...

External links

• Hispanic Heraldry (in Spanish) – Information about Hispanic surnames.
• Catalan Society of Heraldry (in Catalan) – Information about Catalan surnames.
• Territorial distribution of surnames (Data from the Register on 1 January 2006) and several Excel tables about name and surname distribution by age and province, from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain).