Spanish surnames

What is different about Spanish surnames?

1) Spanish people have two surnames.



The first surname is the father's first surname (Sánchez) and the second surname is the mother's first surname (Montes). Well, this was the tradition until a new law was passed and parents can choose on the order of their children's surnames.

That means that now a child may have as his/her first surname that of his/her mother and second that of his/her father.

2) Women have the same surnames all their lives and these do no change with marriage.

You can read the names of the bride's parents on the top left-hand corner: Arnulfo Mejía Zurita and Yolanda Cárdenas Ceja, which means that the bride's name is (and will be after the wedding) Yolanda Mejía Cárdenas. In the same way, the groom's name is Armando Ayala Durán (his mother has two names and two surnames, something quite common).

Some women use their husband's surname and say "señora de + husband's surname" but this is not so common and a bit conservative. In any case, their "official" surnames in every document will be their "maiden" ones.

Spanish names

Hola, me llamo Juanjo y soy español. Acabo de llegar a la Universidad de Westminster y este es mi blog para apoyar la enseñanza del español en el Polylang.

Hi, my name is Juanjo and I'm Spanish. I have just arrived at Westminster University and this is my blog to help you with the learning of Spanish at the Polylang.

Vengo de Sevilla, en el sur de España / I come from Seville, in Southern Spain

Something you might not know about Spanish names:

It is very common for Spanish people to have two names (or more) and using them both!!! As they get too long to say, we sometimes shorten them like this:

Juanjo: Juan José = Juan+Jo(sé)

This is a very common formula to create Spanish nicknames. Other examples:


Juanma: Juan Manuel = Juan+Ma(nuel)

Josema: José María (yes, it is a male name!!): Jose+Ma(ría), also Chema (much shorter and more familiar)

It also works with female names, but in that case it happens with María and the second name can also be fairly altered:

María del Carmen: Mari(a del)+Carmen = Mari Carmen

María Teresa: Mari(a)+Tere(sa) = Mari Tere, also Maite

But you also have some more complicated changes, like these:

José = Pepe

Dolores= Lola

Manuel = Manolo = Lolo

Rosario = Charo

Any questions about other Spanish names? Send a comment.

Meanwhile here is a song called "No me llames Dolores, llámame Lola", by Pastora

(Don't call me Dolores, call me Lola)