Spanish Steps - Fact file - Spanish family names

As you'll have noticed from names like Gabriel García Márquez and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish people always have two apellidos, surnames, contrary to other countries' conventions. The first surname is from the father's family name and the second from the mother's family name. So if Marta López García marries Juan Covas Callas, their child would end up with a name such as Mario Covas López.

First names, nombres, share common traits and are generally drawn from a small group of sources. Juan and José became such common names that the custom of having a second Christian name developed: Juan Miguel or José Antonio, for example.

The most unusual names have been reserved for girls. Compound names involving María (after la Virgen María), the Virgin Mary, include María de la Concepción, de la Purificación, de los Remedios or de los Dolores, Mary of the Conception, Purification, Remedies or Sorrows. Girls may often take the name of a local patron saint or Virgin, such as Montserrat in Cataluña, or Rocío in Seville.

With the end of Franco's suppression of local languages, some families have tended to name their children in their own language. Arantxa is a Basque name, while the Castilian name José is Xosé in Galician and Josep in Catalan. However with the spread of anglophile culture don't be surprised if you run into a few Jonathans or Jessicas on your travels.