Origin of Spanish Surnames

Last Thursday in 4ºESO we held an interesting conversation on the origin of Spanish surnames and then continued talking about the etymology of some English ones.


As it is explained in the website tusapellidos.com Surnames, or family names, may be of several types that in view of the nickname origin of a lot of surnames sometimes interlace: patronymics, that are last names derived from the father's first name, such as Rodríguez (son of Rodrigo, Roderick); surnames of geographical origin, coming from the name of the region or town of origin or manor, such as Navarro (Navarrese, the name of the inhabitants of Navarre, Spain) ; occupational surnames, such as Herrero (Smith); nickname surnames in the strict sense, originating in by-names such as Gros (big in Catalan, a Spanish language), etc. There are also multipart surnames, for example composed of patronymic and toponymic, such as Ruiz de Castilla (Roderiks of Castile, an Aragonese name), or of patronymic and job, such as the Catalan name Gruartmoner (the union of two lineages, Gruart, a Germanic name, and Moner, miller).