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