Credit: Nuestro Stories
What’s in a name?
If you are Latino, your name is your family’s legacy. You might wonder why they are so long if you are not Latino.
Colonization and immigration spread Spanish last names throughout the globe – from Europe to Asia to South America – and every surname has a direct connection to its Hispanic roots.
Like in other cultures, last names of Spanish origin can derive from family names (patronymic or matronymic), places, descriptive names, or occupations.
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Los apellidos were first used around the 12th century because populations expanded to such a point that it was necessary to distinguish between individuals with the same first name.
So, modern Spanish surnames generally fall into one of four categories:
- Patronymic & Matronymic Surnames
- Geographical Surnames
- Occupational Surnames
- Descriptive Surnames
Patronymic and matronymic surnames are based on a parent’s first name. This category includes some of the most common Latino last names. It originated as a way to distinguish between two men of the same first name by using the name of their father, patronymic, or mother, matronymic.
Some examples are:
- Leon Alvarez—Leon, son of Alvaro
- Eduardo Fernández—Eduardo, son of Fernándo
- Pedro Velazquez—Pedro, son of Velasco
Geographical surnames, also common in a Hispanic last name, come from where the first bearer of the name and his family originated from or lived.
Some examples are:
- Ricardo de Lugo—Ricardo, from the town of Lugo
- Lucas Iglesias—Lucas, lived near a church
- Sebastián Desoto—Sebastián, of ‘the grove’
Occupational surnames have to do with a person’s job or trade.
Some examples are:
- Roderick Guerrero—Roderick, the warrior or soldier
- Lucas Vicario—Lucas, the vicar
- Carlos Zapatero—Carlos, the shoemaker
Descriptive surnames are based on a unique or distinctive quality or physical feature that sets that person apart. Or a personality quirk.
Some examples are:
- Juan Delgado—John the thin
- Aarón Cortes—Aarón, the courteous
- Marco Rubio—Marco, the blonde
It is common for people of Spanish heritage to have two surnames – one from their father, and one from their mother. Also, each parent has two surnames, which is usually a combination of the first surname of each parent, with the mother’s first surname coming first.
The two last names come from a “generational transmission” from both parents. As is expected in a patriarchal society, the paternal, or father’s, name will eventually eliminate the maternal name of the family line.
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say there are two parents: Lucía Ramirez García and Jorge Aponte Lerma. Their child uses the traditional order and is named Alejandra Aponte Ramirez. She will marry and her name will change to Paola Rosales Mendoza or Paola Rosales de Mendoza.
The maternal name has been dropped and replaced by the husband’s name. Although, in some Latin American countries, this has started to change. Instead, women are choosing to keep their mothers’ names.
The origins and meanings of Spanish names are fascinating.
See for yourself!
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