Basque surnames are surnames with Basque-language origins or a long, identifiable tradition in the
Basque Country. They can be divided into two main types, patronymic and non-patronymic.
The patronymics such as Aluariz (probably Alvariz, child of Alvar, as in the past 'u' and 'v' were indistinguishable in writing), Obecoz or Garcez are amongst the most ancient, going as far back as the 10th century.
The Basque monarchy, including the first king of Pamplona,
Íñigo Arista of Pamplona
Inigo is a masculine given name deriving from the Castilian Spanish, Castilian rendering (Íñigo) of the medieval Basque language, Basque name Eneko (given name), Eneko. Ultimately, the name means "my little (man)". While mostly seen among the ...
, or Eneko Aritza, were the first to use this type of surname. Patronymics are by far the most common surnames in the whole of the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre.
The non-patronymic surnames are often toponymic ones that refer to the family's ''etxea'', the historically all important family home. When a farm (
baserri) was rented to another family, often the new tenants were known locally by the farm name rather than by their officially registered surname. They also referred to the occupation of the head of the family such as ("the new forge") or (new farm/farmer) or could describe where their home was such as ("by the church"). An example of a common Basque surname is Azpilicueta.
History
Oldest records
The earliest documented Basque surnames occur on
Aquitanian inscriptions from the time of the
Roman conquest of Hispania
The romans ruled and occupied territories in the Iberian Peninsula that were previously under the control of native Celtic, Iberian, Celtiberian and Aquitanian tribes and the Carthaginian Empire. The Carthaginian territories in the south a ...
and
Gallia Aquitania
Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a list of Roman provinces, province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, wher ...
. For the most part these can be easily identified with modern or medieval Basque surnames, for example ''ENNECONIS'' (the personal name ''
Eneko'' plus the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
genitive ending -IS, stem augmented by -N) > Enekoitz.
Also ''SEMBECONNIS'', possibly a derivative of the later surname
Jimenez (''Scemeno'' attested in the 8–9th century). ''V(alerius) BELTESONIS'' (probable coinage from ''beltz'' 'black', less likely linked to ''bele/bela'' 'crow') engraved on the stella of Andriarriaga located in
Oiartzun
Oiartzun (, ) is a town and municipality located in the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa lying at the foot of the massif Aiako Harria (Peñas de Aya in Spanish).
Etymology
The name traces back to ''Oiasso'' or ''Oiarso'', a Roman to ...
bears witness to a mixture of Roman and
Vasconic tradition in the local aristocracy during the Antiquity.
Medieval names
''
García'', one of the most frequent
Spanish surname
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
s, was originally a Basque first name stemming from Basque ''gartzea'', 'the young'. Medieval Basque names follow this descriptive naming pattern about the person, pointing to physical features ("Gutia", "Motza", "Okerra", "Ezkerro", "Zuria", etc.), family relations or geographical origin, e.g. Eneko (Spanish
''Íñigo'') may be a
hypocoristic mother-to-child addressing, 'my little'.
In the Middle Ages, a totemic animal figure often stood for the person's presumable features.
''
Otxoa'' ("wolf") was a Basque version of the Romance name ''
Lope'', or the other way round, with an early medieval prevalence all around the Pyrenees and west into the
Cantabrian Mountains. It is now a surname, like its akin "
Otxotorena" ('little wolf's house', or possibly 'little wolf's wife'),
so similar in meaning to Spanish "
López" (regional variants "Lopes", "Lupiz", etc.). "
Velasco" was a name, later to become a surname, derived from Basque "belasko", 'small raven'. "
Aznar" is a medieval Basque, Gascon and Spanish surname arguably based on old Basque "azenari", 'fox' (modern Basque "", cf. old Basque "
Zenarrutza" vs. modern Basque "
Ziortza").
The non-patronymic, descriptive Basque naming tradition came to a halt when in the 16th century Catholic Church tightened regulations to Christianize practices that didn't stick to the Church's orthodoxy (cf. given name ''Ochanda'', 'female wolf', in Vitoria-Gasteiz still in the 16th century). Thereafter, Romance first names were imposed, while surnames went on to express place descriptions (e.g. "Luzuriaga", 'place of white earth') and parental origin (e.g. "
Marinelarena", 'the sailor's son')
for the most part. The patronymics are derived from the father through the suffix -''ez, -oz, -iz'' or ''-az'' which means 'of'. The Basque language also expresses family links with the genitive suffix ''-(r)ena'', e.g. Perurena, Arozena, etc., meaning 'belonging to'.
Upper nobility
The first king of Navarre,
Íñigo Arista of Pamplona
Inigo is a masculine given name deriving from the Castilian Spanish, Castilian rendering (Íñigo) of the medieval Basque language, Basque name Eneko (given name), Eneko. Ultimately, the name means "my little (man)". While mostly seen among the ...
, is said to hail from the lineage of Iñigo (Eneko). While the use of ''-ez'' was the norm amongst the monarchs of Pamplona and the
Lords of Biscay, the first record we have of the use of ''-ez'' in the monarchs of Leon is through the consort queens from Navarre:
Jimena of Asturias es">:es:Jimena de Asturias">es/sup>, Oneca of Pamplona es">:es:Onneca Fortúnez de Pamplona">es/sup> or Urraca Fernández
Urraca Fernández (died 1007) was queen of León and Navarre as the wife of two kings of León and one king of Navarre between 951 and 994. She acted as regent for her son Gonzalo in the County of Aragon in 996–997, and served as co-regent ...
.
Marital alliances between the Christian kingdoms of Leon and Navarre were typical in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries in order to protect themselves from the southern Islamic attacks. Proof is the fact that King Alfonso V of León
Alfonso V (c. 9947 August 1028), called the Noble, was King of León from 999 to 1028. Like other kings of León, he used the title emperor () to assert his standing among the Christian rulers of Spain. He succeeded his father, Bermudo II, in 9 ...
was mainly of Basque-Navarrese origin, through his mother, Elvira García, and his paternal grandmother, the aforementioned Urraca Fernández.
On the other hand, the first king of Aragón, Ramiro I of Aragon
Ramiro I (bef. 10078 May 1063) was the first King of Aragon from 1035 until his death. His kingdomship was petit, and unfederated, which was sometimes referred to as a petty kingdom. Although his legacy was a minor kingdom, he would expand th ...
, was son of Sancho III of Navarre, grandson of García Sánchez II of Pamplona
García Sánchez II (Basque: ''Gartzea II.a Santxez''; died ), was King of Pamplona and Count of Aragon from 994 until his death . He was the eldest son of Sancho II of Pamplona and Urraca Fernández and the second Pamplonese monarch to also ...
, and great-grandson of Sancho Garcés II of Pamplona, all of them kings of Navarre who used the suffix ''-ez'' and that could have introduced it in this region.
As a result of the Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
, the Douro
The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish Soria Province, province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern par ...
basin was repopulated, most probably by people mainly coming from Navarre, Biscay, Cantabria or Alava, who used the suffix ''-ez''. Furthermore, it is possible that many of the most common patronymic Spanish surnames are not only of Basque-Navarrese origin, but also of royal and aristocratic background. It is logical to assume that the royal families from Leon, Navarre, Aragón and the aristocracy of Biscay, Alava or La Rioja would have had larger numbers of offspring than the regular population given their greater financial means and longer life expectancy.
Grammar and orthography
The grammar of the patronymic endings ''-ez'', ''-iz'' or ''-oz'' is very similar to that of their use to denote origin or content such as ''egurrez'' (made of wood), ''harriz'' (made of stone) or ''ardoz bete'' (full of wine). In Basque, -z is added to the end of the word if it ends in vowel (as in Muñoz, offspring of Munio) or -ez if the word ends in consonant (as in Antúnez, offspring of Anton). This grammar structure is not always the case in the patronymic surnames, e.g., González, offspring of Gonzalo. However, in documents of the 10th, 11th and 12th century linked to the Monastery of Santa Maria de Nájera, we find old versions of these surnames such as Galindoz, Enecoz, Albaroz, Ordonioz, Munioz de Alava, and Lopiz de Bizcaya. It is possible that the proper Basque grammar of the patronymic was lost as its use was extended south of the Basque country.sibilant
Sibilants (from 'hissing') are fricative and affricate consonants of higher amplitude and pitch, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the teeth. Examples of sibilants are the consonants at the beginning of the English w ...
s are spelled. These are especially hard to represent using French spelling conventions, so on the whole, the French spelling of Basque words in general tends to be harder to reconcile with the modern spellings and the pronunciation. Also, vowel-initial Basque surnames from the Northern Basque Country
The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided o ...
acquired an initial d (French ''de'') in many cases, often obscuring the original Basque form e.g. Duhalt < de + uhalte ('the stream environs'), Dotchandabarats < de + otxandabaratz ('orchard of the female wolf'), Delouart < del + uharte ('between streams').
Since the introduction of Standard Basque and a common written standard, the number of non-indigenous spelling variants has begun to decrease, especially in Spain, taking on a form in accordance with the meaning of the surname in Basque, which remains irrelevant in other language spellings.
The Basque Language Academy keeps a database with the standardized form of personal names.
Conventions
As is the legal convention in Spain, Basques in the South have double legal surnames, the first being that of the father and the second that of the mother. In the North, Basques legally have only one surname as is the convention in France. Nonetheless, most Basques can at least recite the surnames of their parents' and grandparents' generations.
The founder of Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism ( ; ; ) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the political unity of the Basques, today scattered between Spain and France. Since ...
, Sabino Arana
Sabino Policarpo Arana Goiri (in Spanish language, Spanish), Sabin Polikarpo Arana Goiri (in Basque language, Basque), or Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin (self-styled) (26 January 1865 – 25 November 1903), was a spaniards, Spanish writer and the ...
, demanded a certain quantity of Basque surnames from his followers in order to reject those of mixed Basque-Spanish descent.
In Alava and west of Navarre a distinctive formula has been followed, with the surname being composite, i.e. Castilian origin; usually a patronymic which uses the Basque suffix ''-ez''">Spanish_language.html" ;"title=" first title of Spanish language">Castilian origin; usually a patronymic which uses the Basque suffix ''-ez''+ ''de'' + [a Basque place-name (usually a village)],[Apellido](_blank)
in the Spanish-language ''Auñamendi Entziklopedia''.
For a while it was popular in some circles to follow a convention of stating one's name that was invented by Sabino Arana in the latter part of the 19th century. He decided that Basque surnames ought to be followed by the suffix ''-(t)ar''. Thus he adopted the habit of giving his name, ''Sabino Arana Goiri'', as ''Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin''. This style was adopted for a while by a number of his fellow Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque Nationalist Party ( , EAJ; , PNV; , PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially the Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum. It has been de ...
(PNV/EAJ) supporters but has largely fallen out of fashion now.
These descriptive surnames can become very long.
The family will probably be known by a short form or a nickname.
The longest Basque surname recorded is ''Burionagonatotorecagageazcoechea'' sported by an employee at the Ministry of Finances in Madrid in 1867.[''Enciclopedia de los nombres propios'', Josep M. Albaigès, Editorial Planeta, 1995, ]
Types and composition
The majority of modern Basque non-patronymic surnames fall into two categories:
*a descriptive of the family house. This usually either refers to the relative location of the home or the purpose of the building.
*the first owner of the house. Usually this is a man's name. These surnames are relatively recentsuffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
es and endings such as the absolutive
In grammar, the absolutive case (abbreviated ) is the case of nouns in ergative–absolutive languages that would generally be the subjects of intransitive verbs or the objects of transitive verbs in the translational equivalents of nominative ...
ending ''-a'', the adjectival suffix ''-ko'', and the genitive
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
ending ''-ren''. An example of the second class are ''Martinikorena'' ("Martinico's ouse, Martinico being a Navarrese hypocorism
A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...
for ''Martin Martin may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Europe
* Martin, Croatia, a village
* Martin, Slovakia, a city
* Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain
* M ...
'').
Another would be ''Mikelena'', "Michael's".
The following examples all relate to the location of the family home.
Recognizing Basque non-patronymic surnames
Basque non patronymic surnames are relatively easy to spot through the high frequency of certain elements and endings used in their formation, bearing in mind the spelling variants. Outside the Basque Country, Basque surnames are often found in Spain and France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, the former Spanish colonies, but largely in Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, and parts of the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
such as Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
where substantial numbers of Basques emigrated to.
See also
* Legal name
A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ...
* Patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic.
Patronymics are used, b ...
* Personal name
A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...
* Surname map
* ''Ocho apellidos vascos
''Spanish Affair'' (; ) is a 2014 Spanish comedy film directed by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro. It premiered in Spain on 14 March 2014. Six weeks after its release, it became the second List of highest-grossing films in Spain, biggest box-office hit ...
''
Significant Basque surnames
These are Basque surnames that are well known or famous around the world:
* Agirre/Aguirre
* Altzibar / Sp: Alcívar
* Alkorta / Sp: Alcorta (or Algorta)
* Altube
* Amenábar
* Ametzaga / Sp: Amézaga
* Ameztoy / Sp: Amestoy
* Anzoátegui
Anzoátegui State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, located in the northeastern region of the country. Anzoátegui is well known for its beaches that attract many visitors. Its coast consists of a single beach approx ...
* Apodaka / Sp: Apodaca
Apodaca () is a city and its surrounding municipality that is part of Monterrey Metropolitan area. It lies in the northeastern part of the Monterrey Metropolitan Area. It is known for becoming recently a heavy industrialized city. As of 2019, ...
* Araia / Sp: Araya
* Arana
* Aramburu
* Arauz
* Aristizábal
* Armendáriz
* Aroztegi / Sp: Aróstegui
* Arredondo
* Arrieta
* Arteaga
* Ayala
* Azkarraga / Sp: Azcárraga
* Baroja
* Bedoya
* Bengoetxea / Sp: Bengoechea
* Bergara / Sp: Vergara
* Berazategi (or Berazategui) / Sp: Berasategui
* Berriotxoa / Sp: Berriochoa
* Biskarret / Sp: Viscarrat
* Bolívar
* Boluarte
* Bordaberry
* Cenarruza
* Duhalde
* Elizabelar
* Elizalde
* Elizondo
* Elorriaga
* Eskibel / Sp: Esquível
* Etxebarren / Sp: Echebarren
* Etxeberria
Etxeberria (, modern Basque spelling) is a Basque language placename and Basque surnames, surname from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country in Spain and France, meaning 'the new house'. It shows one meaningful variant, Etxeberri (no ...
(or Etxebarria, Etxeberri, Etxebarri
Etxebarri, Saint Stephen, Doneztebeko Elizatea () is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Autonomous Basque Community, in the North of Spain.
Since 13 J ...
) / Sp: Echeverría (or Echevarría, Echeverry, Echevarri)
* Etxegarai / Sp: Echegaray
* Etxegoien / Sp: Echegoyen
* Etxemendi / Sp: Echemendi
* Etxenike / Sp: Echenique
* Estigabirria
* Ezkurra / Sp: Ezcurra
* Funes
* Gabiria / Sp: Gaviria
* Galartza / Sp: Galarza
Galarza is a Basque surnames, surname of Basque origins. Notable people with the surname include:
*Adrián Salvador Galarza González (born 1965), Mexican politician
*Alma Galarza, Puerto Rican singer
*Ana Galarza (born 1989), Ecuadorian beauty p ...
* Gaona
* Garai / Sp: Garay
* Garamendi
* García (or Garcíaz, Garcíez, Gartzia, Gaztea, Gartzea, Garcez)
* Gebara / Sp: Guevara
Guevara is a surname of Basque origin. Notable people with the surname include:
* Amado Guevara (born 1976), Honduran football (soccer) player
* Álvaro Guevara (1894–1951), Chilean painter
* Ander Guevara (born 1997), Spanish footballer for Rea ...
* Goikoetxea / Sp: Goicoechea
* Goizueta
* Ibarra
* Induráin
* Intxaurrondo / Sp: Inchaurrondo
* Iriondo
* Irigoien / Sp: Irigoyen/Yrigoyen
* Iturbi
* Iturbide
* Izaguirre Izaguirre is a surname of Basque language, Basque origin with roots in the Basque Country, especially Gipuzkoa and Navarre (Spain). It means 'prominence/clearing exposed to the wind'. "Eizaguirre" is a variant of the same form.
The name may refer t ...
* Jáuregui
* Karrantza / Sp: Carranza
* Kortazar / Sp Cortázar
* Lardizábal
* Larraín
* Larrañaga
* Larrazábal
* Laxalt
* Legazpi
* Loiola / Sp: Loyola
* Maeztu / Sp: Maestu
* Mariñelarena
* Mendieta
* Mendizábal
* Mendoza
* Montoia / Sp: Montoya
* Muxica / Sp: Mújica
* Nafarro / Fr: Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
, Sp: Navarro
* Okendo / Sp: Oquendo
* Ormazábal / Sp: Ormazábal, Hormazábal
* Orozko / Sp: Orozco
* Ortiz
* Orzabal
* Otxoa / Sp: Ochoa
* Oyarzábal
* Sagasti
* Salazar
* Semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoon, spermatozoa which is secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic animals. In humans and placen ...
/ Sp: Jiménez
* Ugartetxe / Sp: Ugarteche
* Uharte / Sp: Ugarte or Huarte
* Unamuno
* Untzaga / Sp: Unzaga
* Urdaneta
* Uriarte
* Uribe
* Uriburu
* Urkiza / Sp: Urquiza
* Uzain
* Yaben
* Ybarra / Sp: Ibarra
* Zabala / Sp: Zavala
* Zabaleta / Sp: Zavaleta
* Zaldibar / Sp: Zaldívar, Saldívar
* Zárate
* Zatarain (or ''K''atarain)
* Zelaia / Sp: Celaya
Celaya (; Otomi: ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The muni ...
or Zelaya (surname), and Celaá
* Zorreguieta
* Zubillaga
* Zubiria (or Zufiria)
* Zuloaga
* Zúñiga
Footnotes
References
*Etxegoien, J. ''Orhipean: Gure Herria ezagutzen'' Xamar: 1992,
*Gorrotxategi, M. ''Nomenclátor de apellidos vascos/Euskal deituren izendegia'' Euskaltzaindia
Euskaltzaindia (; often translated Royal Academy of the Basque Language) is the official academic language regulatory institution which watches over the Basque language. It conducts research, seeks to protect the language, and establishes stand ...
: 1998
*Michelena, L. ''Apellidos vascos'' (5th edition), Txertoa: 1997
* Trask, L. ''The History of Basque'', Routledge: 1997,
External links
Etymological list of Basque surnames
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basque Surnames