do you have Spanish ancestry if you do join me today on the ancestral findings podcast to learn
more about Spanish surnames including how they were formed and their meaning
if you have Spanish ancestry you will almost certainly come across one or more Spanish surnames
during the course of your genealogy research these surnames are very common in Europe North
America Central America and South America and have a varied and storied history behind them
knowing how they were formed and their meanings can give you clues to your Spanish ancestry that
may help you further your research and take those lines back farther in time since most Spanish
surnames can be traced back to ancient Rome and the Visigoths invasions of it this may mean being
able to trace your family back pretty far as long as you can find the written records here
are some common Spanish surnames their origins and their meanings to surnames in the spanish-speaking
world it is common in Spanish language cultures to have two surnames one surname is from their
father and one is from their mother since each parent also has two surnames a spanish-speaking
person surname will usually be a combination of the first surname of each parent with the
mothers first surname coming first therefore if someone had a mother named Maria Diaz Hernandez
and a father named Julio Martinez Rodriguez that individual surname would be Diaz Martinez the
tradition of using two surnames in this way goes back centuries and was introduced into fashion
by the Christian kings in Madrid royal and noble families used this way of creating a surname for
most of the Middle Ages but it did not make its way to the common people until the 1800s it is the
most typical way of forming a Spanish surname now and it is unique among Western cultures in that it
honors both the family name of the father and the mother descriptive surnames like most other places
in Europe Spanish surnames originally developed to either tell who someone's father or mother
was what their trade was where they were born or a distinctive personality trait of there's also like
other European nations the patronymic surname one that tells who a person's father was is the most
common of these types of surnames an astonishing number of Spanish surnames and with suffixes like
as as is or us all of these suffixes mean son of it identifies the name of the father of a person
so Fernando Perez is the son of pero or Pedro which translates to Peter in English this way
of naming is found in the most common Spanish surnames today and like the dual surname is
useful for learning the names of the parents and grandparents of a Spanish ancestor common Spanish
surnames while there is a variety among Spanish surnames an astonishing 20% of modern Spaniards
and those of Spanish descent use the same ten surnames these are the most common surnames in
the Spanish culture today so they are significant in genealogy research their commonality means you
are likely to come across them in your research therefore it is helpful to know what these
surnames are as well as their meaning to help you learn more about your more ancient ancestors
Rodriguez this surname is a patronymic one and it means son of Roderigo Roderigo is the Spanish
form of the German surname Roderick which means famous power Rodriguez is likely such a common
surname in Spanish cultures because one of the last Visigoths kings in Christian Spain was
named Roderick the name Roderick was viewed as a symbol of resistance among the Spanish people
during the time of Caliphate rule and became quite popular as a first name and subsequently a surname
Fernandez another patronymic surname meaning son of Fernando Fernando is the Spanish form
of furn Adad which means brave traveler Gonzales this is the second most popular Spanish surname
in the world today comes from the German name gun to solve goon is German for war while the
meaning of solve remains a mystery Garcia this is the most common surname in Spain and the second
most common in Mexico today it has its origins in the basque name gasps tia which means young
warrior martin this originates from the latin word Martinus which is a form of the name of the Roman
god of war mars it is quite common in Spain and Latin America interestingly it is also the most
popular surname in France though this is usually attributed to missionary work done there by Saint
Martin of Tours Lopez this means son of the wolf it also comes from the Latin word for wolf lupus
in ancient Roman history Romulus the founder of Rome was the son of a female wolf though Lopez
is a patronymic surname it also reflects back to the days of ancient Roman occupation in modern
day Spain Sanchez this word is from the Latin word sánchez which means sanctified or blessed it means
son of Sancho or son of the Blessed perez this patronymic surname has Hebrew origins meaning son
of Pedro or son of Peter some scholars believe the name originated with the son of Judah from
the Bible Judas son was named Perez which means to burst forth in Hebrew it was common for Sephardic
Jews in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition to adopt the surname Perez to fit into that society
and escape persecution because it sounded like a Spanish surname while still maintaining a Jewish
origin Martinez a patronymic surname that is a variation of the other common Spanish surname
Martin Gomez this is a Spanish surname that has origins in the German language the German
Visigoths use the words Goma and gomu as the words for man this is remarkably similar to the Latin
word for man homo therefore Gomez literally means son of man once you know the meaning and origins
of Spanish surnames it becomes easier to use them to trace your own Spanish family farther back
in time and to learn more about the lives and personalities of your ancient Spanish ancestry
this african-american civil war hero who kept the Union flag aloft during extreme circumstances and
was awarded the Medal of Honor for it he is widely considered to be the first African
American Medal of Honor recipient join me next time on the ancestral findings podcast to learn
more about this American Civil War hero thanks for joining me today I'll see you next time on
the ancestral findings podcast and for further info you can visit us at ancestral findings com