{"id":7973,"date":"2021-10-01T19:18:04","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T17:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mausschool.com\/a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames\/"},"modified":"2022-02-21T09:03:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T08:03:37","slug":"a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames\/","title":{"rendered":"A 5-Minute Guide to Spanish Surnames"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames\/#Spanish_surnames_babies_are_named_after_both_their_parents\" >Spanish surnames: babies are named after both their parents<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames\/#Spanish_surnames_how_do_they_work\" >Spanish surnames: how do they work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames\/#The_most_common_Spanish_surnames\" >The most common Spanish surnames<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames\/#Some_Spaniards_have_more_than_two_surnames\" >Some Spaniards have more than two surnames!<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/a-5-minute-guide-to-spanish-surnames\/#Where_do_these_surnames_come_from\" >Where do these surnames come from?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spanish_surnames_babies_are_named_after_both_their_parents\"><\/span>Spanish surnames: babies are named after both their parents<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In Spain, the tradition of having two <a href=\"https:\/\/es.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Apellido\" data-schema-attribute=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">surnames (apellidos)<\/a> has been around for centuries. An advantage of this system is that confusion between people in the Civil Registry is less likely to occur.<\/p>\n<p>This naming system was institutionalised by the Church in the 16th century, and it has been evolving ever since. In the 19th century, the tradition of giving two surnames (paternal and maternal) to children became the law.<\/p>\n<p>Before this, the child\u2019s family was free to decide which surnames to use and in what order.<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays, newborns are given two surnames, usually the father&#8217;s first surname followed by the mother&#8217;s first surname.<\/p>\n<p>However, parents can choose the order of the surnames when they officially register their child\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spanish_surnames_how_do_they_work\"><\/span>Spanish surnames: how do they work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If Juan <strong>Fern\u00e1ndez<\/strong> Jim\u00e9nez and Mar\u00eda <strong>C\u00f3rdoba<\/strong> P\u00e9rez decide to have children, their children&#8217;s surnames would be <strong>Fern\u00e1ndez C\u00f3rdoba<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This means that siblings have the same surnames, but children have a different surname combination to their parents.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019re an adult, you can request to change the order of your surnames.<\/p>\n<p>If you get married, your surname doesn\u2019t change. In other words, each spouse keeps their two surnames.<\/p>\n<p>The Spanish naming system is slightly less sexist than systems in other countries where a woman traditionally takes her husband\u2019s surname upon marrying, and where a child only has their father\u2019s surname.<\/p>\n<p>However, in Spain, maternal surnames are lost in the next generation.<\/p>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8820 size-full\" title=\"Apellidos espa\u00f1oles: los beb\u00e9s se llaman como el padre y la madre, y funciona bien\" src=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/blog-maus-school-apellidos-espanoles-02.jpg\" alt=\"Apellidos espa\u00f1oles: los beb\u00e9s se llaman como el padre y la madre, y funciona bien\" width=\"1000\" height=\"670\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_most_common_Spanish_surnames\"><\/span>The most common Spanish surnames<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The most common surname in Spain is Garc\u00eda. This is followed by Mart\u00ednez, Fern\u00e1ndez, and Rodr\u00edguez&#8230; As you may have noticed, many Spanish surnames end in -ez.<\/p>\n<p>Do you know why? These surnames are derived from the name of a male ancestor. The particle &#8220;-ez&#8221; means \u201cson of\u201d. For example: Fern\u00e1ndez (son of Fernando), L\u00f3pez (son of Lope).<\/p>\n<p>Not all surnames have their origin in the father&#8217;s name; many are derived from a place name, e.g. C\u00f3rdoba, Valencia, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Other Spanish surnames have their origin in the trade of an ancestor, such as &#8220;Sastre&#8221; (Tailor), &#8220;Botero&#8221; (Bottler\/Boat Owner), &#8220;Tejedor&#8221; (Weaver), or in their social status as &#8220;Duque&#8221; (Duque), &#8220;Escudero&#8221; (Squire), &#8220;Soldado&#8221; (Soldier).<\/p>\n<p>If you visit the cities of Ceuta or Melilla, which have large Muslim communities of Moroccan origin, you may come across a person named Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed.<\/p>\n<p>The first word is a first name and the last two are surnames. Mohamed is a very common first and last name among Muslims due to its religious significance.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and one last thing. If you\u2019re planning to move to Spain and obtain Spanish nationality, you\u2019ll have to follow these rules.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve only got one surname, you can either adopt your mother&#8217;s maiden name or repeat your surname.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Some_Spaniards_have_more_than_two_surnames\"><\/span>Some Spaniards have more than two surnames!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Compound surnames<\/strong>, although uncommon, exist and are joined by a hyphen or by one or more particles.<\/p>\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n<p>Ram\u00f3n S\u00e1nchez de C\u00f3rdoba P\u00e9rez. &#8220;S\u00e1nchez de C\u00f3rdoba&#8221; would be the father\u2019s surname, and &#8220;P\u00e9rez&#8221; the mother\u2019s.<br \/>\nLu\u00eds Zuleta-Reales Fern\u00e1ndez. &#8220;Zuleta-Reales&#8221; comes from the father, and &#8220;Fern\u00e1ndez&#8221; comes from the mother.<\/p>\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8823 size-full\" title=\"Apellidos espa\u00f1oles: los beb\u00e9s se llaman como el padre y la madre, y funciona bien\" src=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/blog-maus-school-apellidos-espanoles-03.jpg\" alt=\"Apellidos espa\u00f1oles: los beb\u00e9s se llaman como el padre y la madre, y funciona bien\" width=\"1000\" height=\"670\" \/><\/h3>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_do_these_surnames_come_from\"><\/span>Where do these surnames come from?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In Spain, compound surnames originated in the Middle Ages. <a href=\"https:\/\/es.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anexo:Casas_nobles_de_Espa%C3%B1a_(linajes)\" data-schema-attribute=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Noble families<\/a> often combined their surnames with those of lords or with the name of the place that they were from. Likewise, compound surnames were sometimes used if a woman had noble lineage so that her surname was preserved in future generations.<\/p>\n<p>Learning about Spanish surnames is fascinating because it speaks volumes about Spanish culture and history.<\/p>\n<p>Do you want to learn Spanish and discover Spain? Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-schema-attribute=\"\">our courses<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spanish surnames: In Spain, the tradition of having two surnames (apellidos) has been around for centuries. An advantage of this system is that confusion between people in the Civil Registry is less likely to occur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-tradition","category-spanish-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mausschool.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}