THE ORIGIN OF LAST NAMES

In ancient times, surnames did not exist.

Take the Bible, for example ...

The characters of the Old and New Testaments were known by name: Abraham, Moses, Peter, John, Matthew, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. There was no such thing as Abraham Pérez, Mateo Delgado or José García. (Beware: Iscariot was not the surname of the traitor Judas, nor Thaddeus that of the saint; they were nicknames, nicknames).

Over time, the communities became more and more populated, and at the moment doubts arose:

-Take this message to Juan.

"Which Juan?" Asked the messenger.

-Well, Juan, the ‘from the valley’ - he explained to distinguish it from the other Juan, the ‘del monte’

In this case, the surnames ‘del Valle’ and ‘del Monte’, so common today, arose as a result of the place where these people lived. These are called ‘toponyms surnames’, because toponymy studies the origin of the proper names of a place. In the same category are the surnames Arroyo, Canales, Costa, Cuevas, Peña, Prado, Rivera (which refer to a geographical accident) and Ávila, Burgos, Logroño, Madrid, Toledo (which come from a city in Spain).

Other surnames originate from some architectural peculiarity with which a person was related. If your ancestor lived near several towers, or steps from fountains, or behind a church, or when crossing a bridge, or owned several palaces, now you understand the reason for the surnames Torres, Fuentes, Iglesia, Puente and Palaces.

You may have had an ancestor that had something to do with flora and fauna. Perhaps he raised lambs, harvested apples, or ran a cattle farm. Hence the surnames Cordero, Manzanero and Toro.

The trades or professions of the past have also produced many of the surnames of today. Do you know a Labrador, Shepherd, Monk, Blacksmith, Servant or Cowboy? Well, you know what his ancestors did during the Middle Ages.

Another way to create surnames was based on some physical characteristic, or a trait of your personality or a marital status. If he was not married, then he was Single; if he wasn't fat, he was slim; if he had no hair, he was bald; if his hair wasn't brown, he was blond; if he was not white, he was Moreno; if he had a good sense of humor, he was Cheerful; if he was polite, he was polite.

Perhaps the most curious origin is that of the surnames that end in -ez, such as Rodríguez, Martínez, Jiménez, González, among many others that Hispanics abound among us. The origin is very simple: -ez means 'son of'. Therefore, if your last name is González, it is because you had an ancestor who was the son of a Gonzalo. In the same way, Rodríguez was the son of Rodrigo, Martínez de Martín, Jiménez de Jimeno, Sánchez de Sancho, Álvarez de Álvaro, Benítez de Benito, Domínguez de Domingo, Hernández de Hernando, López de Lope, Ramírez de Ramiro, Velázquez de Velasco , and so on.

The same happens in other languages: Johnson is John's son in English (John-son); MacArthur is Arthur's son in Scottish; Martini is Martín's son in Italian.

This is how, little by little, during the Middle Ages, surnames began to emerge. The purpose was, therefore, to differentiate one person from the other.

Over time, these surnames took on a hereditary character and passed from generation to generation with the purpose of identifying not only people, but families.