History UsefulNotes / SpanishNamingConventions

Several autonomous regions of Spain have different language traditions than the rest of the country. Though most of the conventions are the same as the rest of Spain, what names people have differ. The largest of these differences is that in Galicia and the Basque country, [[XtremeKoolLetterz there is heavy presence of the letter 'x']] -- in the local languages and dialects, it has an easier pronunciation than most other Hispanic languages[[labelnote:the x]]The letter is called an ''equis'' (''pronounced'' "a kiss"), and can be said anywhere from an English 'h' to a 'j' to a 'sh' to a 'th' to some forsaken combination of them all. However, it is a subtle sound that is not common and can only be made naturally by a Spanish tongue in certain places in the word. For this reason, for example, many Latino people don't really like the term 'Latinx' because there is no way to actually say that in their own language.[[/labelnote]], and these places also don't like Spain that much so may use it both for [[NintendoHard deliberate contrived difficulty]] and because the names also relate to local culture. Catalunya and the Islas have a (marginally) better relationship with Spain, but more importantly also speak languages where the 'x' is a difficult sound, so it is no more common in their names than in Spanish ones.

* '''Ricky''' -- an Anglicized nickname for Enrique, and one that can confuse: Enrique is not Spanish for Richard, it's Spanish for Henry. Again, while it exists in Spain, it is more popular in the Americas; Spain uses Quique instead. It's also a Catalan nickname for Ricard, as in the case of current [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]] player Ricky Rubio.

* '''María José'''/ '''María Josefa''' (antiquated) and '''José María''' -- the first is a girls' name, as described above , and the latter is a boys' name. Many boys have María in a given name despite it being female, because they're that religious. These people will, with luck, have another name to use, or use an unrelated nickname in the style of most Spanish footballers. Also note that these names will be written as "M.ª José" and "José M.ª". If a girl is called María José, she will likely use the nickname "Pepa" like in ''Film/MujeresAlBordeDeUnAtaqueDeNervios'' (see Pepe, above, and because she has the name José). "José María" is commonly shortened to "Chema".

There are some names that will not be used very often, however. Francisco is one of these, thanks to the dictator UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco who, for the unaware, ''scared Hitler'' and was basically running Spain like a TorosYFlamenco version of North Korea. Similarly José Antonio used to be a common name during Francoism because it alluded to the founder of the Falange, José Antonio Primo de Rivera, but is no longer commonly used. Blanca is not very common in Spain, though it is in the Americas, and is a sure sign that a writer is American if it crops up. Similarly, Sofía is not particularly uncommon in Spain, but nowhere near as popular as it is in the Americas (where it's been solid at number one since about 2010). The girl's name Macarena fell out of favor after [[Music/LosDelRio the song]] (it's not exactly complimentary), but was on the way out, anyway.

* Alejandro -- Spanish form of Alexander, meaning "defender of men"

* Ferdinand and Fernando -- meaning 'peaceful journey'

* Javier -- from the name Xavier, which comes from the place-name Javier, which was a transliteration of the descriptor ''etxi berri'', meaning "new home". Pronounced "have-ee-air".
* Jorge -- translates as George, meaning "farmer"

* '''-illo''' and '''-illa''' -- these are diminutive suffixes that are used by many Spanish-speakers the way they use "-ito/a", but they are not all that popular, being most common in Mexico, and specifically in Northern Mexico where they are actually more common that "-ito/a". So, instead of the burrito, we were gifted the quesadilla. Names become, obviously, Juana -> Juanilla, and though it similarly just doesn't work for all names, you can have Juan -> Juanillo.

* '''-ico''' and '''-ica''' -- Cuba does a funny thing where after the first diminuation, nicknames get weird. So, poco -> poquito, but poquito -/-> poquitito. It becomes poquitico. Chiquita becomes chiquitica, etc. Careful with the nicknames you give your Cuban characters, it may be safest to stick to close familiarity (the first diminuation) rather than going for the {{narm}} of the second diminuation.

Nicaraguans love getting nicknames, but due to the rather uncommon first names (and hence difficulty to use "standard" nicknames) and the often sprawling and tightly knit families making last name-based nicknames impractical, nicknames are often based on outwards appearance. They may be rather direct (ex-president Arnoldo Aleman is known as "El Gordo" due to his rotundness) and sometimes {{ironic|Nickname}}, calling somebody exactly the thing they ''aren't''. A common word that even casual white skinned visitors to Nicaragua are bound to hear is "chele", apparently derived from "leche" (milk) with the syllables turned around, which is used for light skinned people, particularly light skinned foreigners or, in some cases, dark skinned people in irony.

[[TheNicknamer Peruanos love giving nicknames.]] Seriously, you'll get a nickname and never hear your real name again. Here are some that will be used for people:

Spanish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world (second to only Mandarin Chinese in the number of first-language speakers and only to English and Mandarin Chinese in the number of total speakers), being the official language of twenty countries. Moreover, the Hispanosphere has a long history of interaction ([[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars the good]], [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOfTheSpanishArmada the]] [[UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar bad]], [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWarsOfIndependence the mixed]], and [[UsefulNotes/TheMexicanRevolution the ambiguous]]) and still have frequent cultural and economic exchanges. It's thus no surprise that Latin/Hispanic cultures are among the most common non-Anglo cultures represented in English-language media. (And other European media--probably.) For these reasons, many may falsely assume that various Spanish cultures and traditions are similar or identical to Anglo-American ones, with only more [[TheCartel drugs]], [[{{Bandito}} crime]], and [[DashingHispanic really]] [[SpicyLatina attractive]] [[LatinLover people]]. However, this is not the case. One of the most obvious things to get wrong is the names you give to people being inappropriate for the time/location, misgendered, or just plain incorrect. The one thing many {{comed|y}}ies, especially, often do get right is [[OverlyLongName the length many names can be]], typically for laughs. Unfortunately, a lot of media relies on reusing {{Stock Foreign Name}}s without checking if they're appropriate. Hopefully, this page will help you out more than that.

The two surnames is a simpler way of recording heritage than many other Hispanophone nations, which often use more family names, with Spain taking only the father's first surname and the mother's first surname. Usually, the father's becomes the child's first surname, with the mother's becoming the second -- for example, if your parents were Joe Lopez Mendez and your mother Jane Rodriguez Garcia, you would be Lopez Rodriguez -- but the order is becoming more liberal. In common usage, only the given name and first surname are used, except for points of differentiation. This is why Creator/FedericoGarciaLorca is known either with both surnames or, actually most usually, simply as "Lorca" -- García is ''very'' common.

Another issue is that any single surname can itself already be a barrelled name. Website/TheOtherWiki uses the example of Juan Pablo Fernández de Calderón García-Iglesias, where "Fernández de Calderón" is one surname, and "García-Iglesias" is the other. This is something which does happen in other cultural naming practices, including English (though, whilst very common in Britain, it is largely uncommon in the United States). Because 'de' can function in given names and for signifying marriage, also, and because there is significant overlap in what may be used as a given name and surname, there are many situations where knowing what name is what name can be hard. Another connector of names in a surname is 'y' or 'i'[[labelnote:*]]more Catalan[[/labelnote]] or 'e'[[labelnote:*]]when the second name to be joined begins with an "ee" sound[[/labelnote]], and can be used both between two single surnames or two barrelled surnames.

Many surnames were originally, like in many languages, {{UsefulNotes/patronymic}}s: Ramírez would be son of Ramiro, López would be son of Lope, etc. Yes, this is for the surnames ending in 'ez'. They're not usually handed out like this anymore, but on occasion are.

* '''Javi''', '''Rafa''', '''Dani''', '''Gabi''' -- this is pretty much a direct equivalent to the English Thomas -> Tom; Javier -> Javi, Rafael -> Rafa, Daniel -> Dani, Gabriel -> Gabi. Note that it's a similar sound being elided in all three examples. There are actually not very many names that do this in Spanish, and it is always one where extra vowel sounds are encountered in an extra syllable.

* '''-ito''' and '''-ita''' -- literally this means that whatever it's been added to is smaller than usual (un poco -> un poquito = little -> tiny[[labelnote:*]]or burro -> burrito[[/labelnote]]), however is more common to indicate affection. It also works for verbs and adverbs (e.g. despacio -> despacito), but for names there are some common formations that are an almost guaranteed usage. The rule of thumb is that if it sounds wrong, it probably is. Also remember to cut down on your vowels: it's not Juan that becomes Juanita, it's Juana, but Miguel becomes Miguelito because it ends on a consonant.
** This can continue to, for example, poquitito. This is most commonly seen with endearments that derive from general terms, like chica becoming chiquita, becoming chiquitita. The Music/{{ABBA}} song uses "chiquitita" well, suggesting intimacy and empathy.

* Daniel -- a religious name (Literature/BookOfDaniel), meaning 'God is my judge'. Pronounced as 'dan-ee-el' or 'dan-yell'. According to Spain's Statistics Department, this was THE most popular name for boys during the 2010s.

* David -- again religious, from the King of Israel, means figuratively 'to be beloved'. Pronounced 'da-beed'. According to Spain's Statistics Department, this was THE most popular name for boys in the 70s, 80s and 90s, meaning that a lot of Spaniard Gen Xers and Millenials have this name. And it's still among the most popular to this day.

* Hugo -- meaning 'intelligent'; per the UsefulNotes/SpanishLanguage, the 'h' is silent
* Alejandro -- Spanish form of Alexander, meaning 'defender of men'

* Pablo -- religious name and Spanish form of Paul, meaning 'humble'

* Álvaro -- uncertain meaning, although clearly of Germanic origin. Theories abound, including several terms related to 'warrior', 'guardian', 'bear' and 'elf' in Old Norse or German

* Diego and Jaime -- more religious names, both of which are both Spanish equivalents to both James ''and'' Jacob, meaning 'one who follows'. Per the UsefulNotes/SpanishLanguage, Jaime is pronounced 'hi may' or 'chai may'. Diego comes from a [[TheProblemWithPenIsland misinterpreting]] of Santiago as 'San Diego' instead of 'Sant Iago'. Iago, which was exported to Europe as Jacme and then Jaime, is from St. James the Greater, also known as St. Jacob, with Jacob a back-translated Latin form. Despite what the limited pop cultural presence (the [[WesternAnimation/GoDiegoGo American kids' cartoon adventurer]], the Argentine foot[[CoughSnarkCough *cough*hand*cough*]]baller, and [[Creator/DiegoLuna the Mexican actor]]) would suggest, Diego is ''much'' more popular in Europe than America. It is also a reasonably popular Portuguese name. Jaime, on the other hand [[BrickJoke (that didn't cheat)]], seems to be about as popular in each country as the others, including the fictional Westeros in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' -- [[OverlyLongGag where he gets his hand]] cut off after serving as the Hand of the King.
* Pedro -- the next religious name, translates as Peter, and means 'stone'

* Carlos -- translates as Charles, means 'free man' or simply "man" in old German.

* Felipe/Philip -- meaning 'friend of horses' in Greek

* Javier -- from the name Xavier, which comes from the place-name Javier, which was a transliteration of the descriptor etxi berri, meaning 'new home'. Pronounced 'have-ee-air'.
* Jorge -- translates as George, meaning 'farmer'
* Miguel -- translates as Michael, which is the translation of the Hebrew question 'מִיכָאֵל', or, 'who is like God?'
* Ángel -- means 'angel', pronounced 'an-hell'
* Martín -- from Mars, god of war, pronounced 'mar-teen'
* Mateo -- another religious name, after Matthew, meaning 'gift of YHWH'
* Iker -- actually a Basque name, but has become more popular, and was originated in the false history ''Deun-Ixendegi Euzkotarra'' by Creator/SabinoArana, as an attempt to invent new Basque names to distance them from typical Latin names. It means something like 'visitor', as in a bringer of good news.

* Jesús -- the Spanish form of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, pronounced kind-of ironically as 'hey-zeus'; one does not have to be super religious to have the name, which literally means both 'to rescue' and 'to deliver'
* Rafael -- commonly Anglicized as Raphael, means 'God has healed'.

* Asier -- another Basque origin name, but this one wasn't made up. It means 'the beginning'

* Lucía -- meaning 'light', the most popular name in Spain, ''even above María'', somewhat religious as it can come directly from Santa Lucía

* Paula -- meaning 'petite', may also be religious because there was a saint bearing the name. Pronounced 'pow-la'.

* Sara -- meaning 'independent woman' and/or 'princess' and also suggests 'gaiety' ([[HaveAGayOldTime happiness mixed with joy]]). Which is pretty badass. Comes from the Hebrew Sarah, who was wife of Abraham in the Bible and Tovah.
* Carmen -- has two separate origins in two languages: 'song' in Latin and 'God's vineyard' in Hebrew. Both could theoretically occur at the same time.

* Ana -- from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning 'grace of God' (all related names derive from this), and who was the mother of Samuel. However, as said, all related names derive from this and so with Saint Anne as the mother of the Virgin Mary, it serves double duty as a powerful Christian name.
* Elena -- from the Greek Helen, meaning 'light' and 'beautiful'. It is seen as a first or standalone given name frequently, though more commonly in the Americas than in Spain, but is also very frequently seen after María to form the given name María Elena. Usually written as Elena, but not impossible to get the form Helena either.

* Isabella and Isabel -- probably a form of the Hebrew name Elisabeth or Elisheva, meaning something vaguely like 'I swear to God' (and in its original Hebrew origin 'gift of God'). Others believe it might be a form of the Phoenician Ishbaal, meaning 'daughter of Baal' or 'Baal is good'.
* Teresa -- used in referral to several famous saints, meaning 'huntress', coming from a nickname for Artemis/Diana

* Margarita -- meaning 'daisy', translated as Margaret.
* Andrea -- from the word 'man(ly)' through andros -> Andreas. Used as the feminine form because of alternative translations of the Italian masculine name.
* Alba -- meaning 'dawn' or 'white' (note: in Scottish, it means Scotland, don't confuse the two)
* Alma -- meaning 'soul'

* Laura -- meaning 'laurel', pronounced 'la-ow-ra'

Several autonomous regions of Spain have different language traditions than the rest of the country. Though most of the conventions are the same as the rest of Spain, what names people have differ. The largest of these differences is that in Galicia and the Basque country, [[XtremeKoolLetterz there is heavy presence of the letter 'x']] -- in the local languages and dialects, it has an easier pronunciation than most other Hispanic languages[[labelnote:the x]]The letter is called an 'equis' (''pronounced'' 'a kiss'), and can be said anywhere from an English 'h' to a 'j' to a 'sh' to a 'th' to some forsaken combination of them all. However, it is a subtle sound that is not common and can only be made naturally by a Spanish tongue in certain places in the word. For this reason, for example, many Latino people don't really like the term 'Latinx' because there is no way to actually say that in their own language.[[/labelnote]], and these places also don't like Spain that much so may use it both for [[NintendoHard deliberate contrived difficulty]] and because the names also relate to local culture. Catalunya and the Islas have a (marginally) better relationship with Spain, but more importantly also speak languages where the 'x' is a difficult sound, so it is no more common in their names than in Spanish ones.

The Guanche language belonged to the native islanders of the [[UsefulNotes/CanaryIslands Canarias]] before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the 15th century. The language was maintained by these people for several centuries but has become extinct; however, remnants of it are still seen in Canarian Spanish, especially in the local names. The word Guanche itself means 'man from Tenerife' (Tenerife is one of the larger of the Canarias). Canarian/Canárian may also be termed Canario.

Many surnames were originally, like in many languages, {{patronymic}}s: Ramírez would be son of Ramiro, López would be son of Lope, etc. Yes, this is for the surnames ending in 'ez'. They're not usually handed out like this anymore, but on occasion are.

** Five notable politicians: Alejandro Cercas, Alejandro Lerroux, Alejandro Muñoz-Alonso, [[MultiEthnicName Alejandro O'Reilly]], and Alejandro Rebollo Álvarez-Amandi

Spanish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world (second to only Mandarin Chinese in the number of first-language speakers and only to English and Mandarin Chinese in the number of total speakers), being the official language of twenty countries. Moreover, the Hispanosphere has a long history of interaction ([[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars the good]], [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 the]] [[UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar bad]], [[UsefulNotes/SpanishAmericanWarsOfIndependence the mixed]], and [[UsefulNotes/TheMexicanRevolution the ambiguous]]) and still have frequent cultural and economic exchanges. It's thus no surprise that Latin/Hispanic cultures are among the most common non-Anglo cultures represented in English-language media. (And other European media--probably.) For these reasons, many may falsely assume that various Spanish cultures and traditions are similar or identical to Anglo-American ones, with only more [[TheCartel drugs]], [[{{Bandito}} crime]], and [[DashingHispanic really]] [[SpicyLatina attractive]] [[LatinLover people]]. However, this is not the case. One of the most obvious things to get wrong is the names you give to people being inappropriate for the time/location, misgendered, or just plain incorrect. The one thing many {{comed|y}}ies, especially, often do get right is [[OverlyLongName the length many names can be]], typically for laughs. Unfortunately, a lot of media relies on reusing {{Stock Foreign Name}}s without checking if they're appropriate. Hopefully, this page will help you out more than that.

!Caribbean

!!UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/apellidos_cuba.png]]
Cuba is one of the countries that more commonly includes longer surnames in two ways: it retains a lot of the long singular names from colonial periods when many other Latin American countries have not, and it is one of the countries (along with much of Central America) that commonly includes grandparent/ancestral/lineage surnames in addition to father's and mother's.

Honestly, who let Cuba come up with their own rules? This gets messy. The short version is that the nation's tradition seems to be rooted in misogyny, as in practical usage most men go by an inherited family name and women go by either their father's name, their husband's name, or both. Ironically, actual full surnames are very hefty and can be strangely ordered. The base of taking surnames is the typical Latin American pattern of your father's, your mother's, your paternal grandmother's, your maternal grandmother's (which can be rephrased many ways because lots of your relatives will have all these names in various different orders), but something funny happens when it comes to marriage, at least traditionally and commonly persisting in several (even modern American) communities. The woman's first surname -- the one from her father and his father, etc. -- gets bumped to the end of her inherited names. This actually makes quite a lot of sense, at least in terms of women being viewed as property. The last 'name' to be seen, typically the easiest part to remember, will be [father's name] de [husband's name], which is in short saying that she belongs to these two men. At this point, the rest of the surname may be discounted or just fairly simple to use with the woman's given names, the ending now most important.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/apellidos_odaat3.png]]
Take the example of the remake of ''Series/{{One Day at a Time|2017}}'', about a Cuban-American family, and [[ShownTheirWork with a Cuban-American showrunner]]. Lydia is the mother of Penelope, who is the mother of Elena. We have Lydia's full name, Lydia Margarita Del Carmen Inclan Maribona Leytevidal de Riera, and Elena's full name, Elena Maria Alvarez Riera Calderón Leytevidal Inclan. In parts: [Inclan] [Maribona] [Leytevidal] de [Riera] and [Alvarez] [Riera] [Calderón] [Leytevidal] [Inclan]. Because Lydia has been married, her father's name is Leytevidal, which makes it Penelope's mother's (i.e. Lydia) name, so Penelope's name (since she has also been married) will start [Leytevidal]. From Elena's name, Alvarez is her father, Penelope's husband, so Penelope's name will end with de [Alvarez]; Lydia's husband's name is Riera, and this is also Elena's mother's name, so it is Penelope's father's name and will come before as [Riera] de [Alvarez]. From Elena's name, Calderón comes from her paternal grandmother, her father's side, and so won't appear in Penelope's name. Similarly, in Lydia's name, Maribona is her grandmother's surname and theoretically too far removed for Penelope to inherit it, though this isn't unheard of (and it is evident that Elena was given such a name, likely connecting with the matriarchy displayed in the show). Inclan is Penelope's grandmother's name, so it will appear 'last' in her name, as [Inclan] [Riera] de [Alvarez]. Unfortunately, we don't know Penelope's father's full name to work out what would come before Inclan, leaving her unmarried name as [Riera] [Leytevidal] [?] [Inclan], and her married name as [Leytevidal] [?] [Inclan] [Riera] de [Alvarez]. A fun (actually, difficult and taxing) exercise is to apply this to work out other peoples' names from their relatives; it also helps prove the point that 1. it works, 2. it's hard, 3. why, Cuba, why?!

!Central America

!!UsefulNotes/{{Nicaragua}}
In general, there are two factors that majorly affect Nicaraguan naming schemes: the ethnic diversity of the country, and politics. While the political elite is largely mestizo, there are to this day notable indigenous and Afro-descended groups that speak indigenous languages and creole English, mostly in the Eastern half of the country. While many families gave their kids conservative, biblical names akin to Francoist Spain until the Sandinista Revolution of 1979, since then Russian derived "communist" names -- and in more recent times, "American" names -- have become popular. However, it is often that not all Nicaraguans fully understand the cultural origin of the name and as such last names may be used as first names, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS uncommon spellings]] and mispronunciations abound.

!!!Nombres
It is often easy to at least somewhat pinpoint when somebody was born and which political leanings their parents had at the time. If they have a "pedestrian" Spanish name like José, Juan, Luis or the likes, they were likely born before the 1979 revolution. If they have a name like "Lenin", "Mijail" (varying spelllings, sometimes also "Mikhail") or the likes, they were likely born in the 1980s. If they have a name one cannot really place, they might've been born in the 1990s or later. These days it is not uncommon to give a "weird" first name and a "normal" middle name, such as "Beyton Francisco" or "Mayela Luisa". Younger couples also take to PortmanteauCoupleName for their kid, creating a new name by smoshing together the name of the parents. American names, or in some cases [[EaglelandOsmosis what Nicaraguans think are American names]] have also become popular since the end of the Contra War, giving rise to such bizarre concoctions as "Ruswel" (a phonetic spelling of a mispronunciation of [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates Teddy or FDR]]). "Bismarck" is another not unheard of first name, as is Daisy.

!!!Apellidos
Nicaragua has for a long time been some form of HereditaryRepublic and as such "last names" carried a lot of weight. The unquestionably most important family on the national level were, for most of the 19th century and the early 20th century, the Chamorros, who had several of their number rise to the presidency or take high positions in business or journalism. The Somozas were initially the equivalent of minor nobility, but managed to eke out a family dictatorship from the 1930s to the aforementioned 1979 revolution. However, their family name is -- for understandable reasons -- mud. Nicaragua also had a small but significant German descendant minority, who primarily settled in the North of the country and got active in the coffee business. If somebody has a German sounding last name, they may be connected to that heritage. Somoza "fought" in World War 2 by expropriating many German-Nicaraguans for alleged or real Nazi sympathies.

!!!Nicknames
Nicaraguans love getting nicknames, but due to the rather uncommon first names (and hence difficulty to use "standard" nicknames) and the often sprawling and tightly knit families making last name-based nicknames impractical, nicknames are often based on outwards appearance. They may be rather direct (ex-president Arnoldo Aleman is known as "El Gordo" due to his rotundness) and sometimes {{ironic|Nickname}}, calling somebody exactly the thing they ''aren't''. A common word that even casual white skinned visitors to Nicaragua are bound to hear is "chele", apparently derived from "leche" (milk) with the syllables turned around, which is used for light skinned people, particularly light skinned foreigners or, in some cases, dark skinned people in irony.
%%
%%!!Central America

** Carlos Alcaraz, as of August 2023 the current world number 1 in men's tennis

** Carlos Alcaraz, as of July 2023 the current world number 1 in men's tennis

* Martin -- from Mars, god of war, pronounced 'mar-teen'

** Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis great.

** Marc Márquez, motorcycle racer and multiple [=MotoGP=] champion

** Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis great, and also younger sister of three other pro tennis players (Marisa, Emilio, and Javier, all of whom chose to be known by only their father's surname)

** [[Music/BrunoMars Peter Hernández]], American singer of Puerto Rican-Filipino descent