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I think that's the first time I've seen a y (and) added between Spanish last names. Any idea where that practice comes from?
by axtscz 9y ago
I think that's the first time I've seen a y (and) added between Spanish last names. Any idea where that practice comes from?
- dsantiago 9y agoJose Ortega y Gasset was a relative of mine, and I asked this as a kid. What I was told (by my grandmother, his niece) is that it is sometimes done when there's a weirdness in the combination of the two last names that would make it ambiguous, such as someone who has a compound first name like Jose-Maria that makes it harder to tell where a first name/last name breaks, or in this case, where it results in a repeated sound (ga-ga) that feels weird to say. But I have not found any corroboration of this online.
- unclebucknasty 9y agoIt has now been officially documented online by your grandmother via you. I'd take her word for it!
- axtscz 9y agoThanks for answering. As a Spanish speaker this makes sense. My dad is from Mexico and no one in my entire family has this so maybe it's limited more to Spain?
- faragon 9y agoIt was until the 19th century, when it was somewhat normalized (census, etc.). Since the 20th century naming in Spain is pretty the same as Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries. All my known relatives names/surnames are without "y".
- dsantiago 9y agoYep, we are talking about someone who was born in the 1880s. Though as a counterexample in the modern age, there is a well-known Spanish economist at Columbia named Xavier Sala i Martin.
- phreeza 9y agoI used to live on the street in Madrid named after your great-great uncle, and I always wondered why he was named like that. The explanation make sense!
- faragon 9y agoIt was a common practice in Spain until the XIX th century. E.g. Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra (1547-1616), the author of the book "Don Quixote" used the same pattern (in modern texts is often referenced without the "y", as Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra). Literally, it means Miguel "from" (as "son of") Cervantes (father first surname) "and" Saavedra (mother first surname). Currently that form is in disuse, so if being born nowdays it would be just José Ortega Gasset, although people could formally/informally use "José Ortega y Gasset", "José de Ortega y Gasset", or even "José Ortega i Gasset" (in case of being written in texts in Catalan, instead of Spanish, a form that is still in use in some Spanish regions having the Catalan/Valencian in addition to the Spanish).