The surname shows the origin of people from one ancestor, denotes the belonging of a group to a particular genus. The tradition of giving hereditary names appeared in the X-XI centuries, now they are used everywhere, with the exception of a narrow circle of countries. For example, in Iceland surnames are prohibited by law. In most states, the name by gender is widely used and has its own characteristics of education and use. In this article we will look at Spanish surnames.
History of the appearance of surnames in Spain
As elsewhere, in Spain at first people only had names. They were given to the child at baptism and were then officially approved. As the population grew, the variety of names was not enough to avoid repetition. People with the same names began to meet often, which caused confusion. Then a tradition was formed to give newborns a middle name, which turned into a surname during the development of the Spanish state.
Also, for convenience, a word could be added to the name that defines a specific person. This greatly facilitated the task of identifying a person among an abundance of namesakes. The methods of forming a middle name, which later becomes the family name, were similar to similar processes in other national groups.
By name of parents
The simplest thing that the Spaniards came up with is to add the name of one of his parents to the person’s name. Example: “Jorge, son of Jose” (Jorge, el hijo de Jose). Subsequently, this form was reduced to a simple Jorge Jose (Jorge Jose), the second word was considered a surname. The preposition de has historically remained in some variants of generic names. But this does not indicate either the noble origin of the owner of the Spanish family, or any features of his family, as many mistakenly think.
By place of birth or residence
Similarly, words related to a territorial attribute were added. For example, Maria from Valencia (Maria de Valencia). Over time, the preposition ceased to be pronounced, and the full name took on the form of Maria Valencia. The preposition de, as in the past case, sometimes holds, but it carries no semantic load.
By occupation
The second defining word added to the name could indicate a profession, title, position. Using this method, Spanish names were formed, for example, Herrero (blacksmith), Escudero (creating shields), Zapatero (shoemaker) and many others.
Nicknamed
Nicknames that highlight any bright feature in the appearance or character of a person also served as a way of distinguishing between people who have the same name. The ancestor's characteristic features were brought to contemporaries by such surnames as Barbudo (bearded man), Rubio (blond-haired), Bueno (glorious), Franco (honest), etc.
Surnames on EU
A common form of Spanish surnames is the form with the suffix -es. Where such variations came from is now not known for certain. But the fact remains - this is one of the most popular varieties of generic names. Most of these surnames came from the name of the father. So, from Gonzalo Gonzalez was formed, from Rodrigo - Rodriguez, from Ramona - Ramones, etc.
Female and male Spanish surnames
In some languages there is a distinction of nominal forms based on gender. So, for example, in Russian this difference is traditionally expressed by the end. Male and female Spanish surnames have no differences in pronunciation and spelling. Another interesting feature is that women in this country do not take the name of the husband, although they can often add it after their own.
Second names began to be passed from father to son, gaining a foothold for the whole clan. Due to the similarity of the signs by which the family received their surname from their ancestor, many of them were quite common. Therefore, it is often possible to meet Spaniards who have the same surname, but are not relatives.
Common Spanish last names
Most namesakes in Spanish-speaking countries have the following generic names:
- Fernandez.
- Rodriguez.
- Sanchez.
- Gomez.
- Garcia.
- Gonzalez.
- Lopez.
Rare Spanish surnames include those that are borrowed from other languages, indicate some unique sign of a person, or come from the names of sparsely populated areas. For example, the famous conquistador of the 16th century, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, whose last name translates as “the head of a cow”, received such a generic name from the name of the area in the Spanish province. Another example is the surname Picasso, famous all over the world thanks to its talented owner. She got the artist from her mother, and it was the small prevalence of this name that encouraged Pablo Ruiz Picasso to choose her for official presentation.
