• Occupational. Based on the person’s trade, such as José Herrera (José the blacksmith) and Juan El Molinero (Juan the Miller).

• Descriptive or nickname. Based on a unique quality of the person, such as Domingo Calvo (Domingo bald headed) and Juan El Moreno (Juan the Dark).

• Toponymic. Based on a person’s residence, such as Domingo del Río (Domingo from near a river) and Juan de Córdova (Juan from Cordova).

At first, surnames applied only to one person and not to the whole family. After a few generations these names became hereditary and were used from father to son.

Surnames were first used by the nobility and wealthy landowners. Later the custom was followed by merchants and townspeople and eventually by the rural population. This process took two or three centuries. In Spain the name system was well established by the 1100s. The naming customs of Spain became the basis for other Spanish-speaking countries.

It is not possible to determine the exact year or even the century when a particular family name was taken. By the end of the 13th century many families determined to retain the patronymic with out continuing to change the name from generation to generation. Thus, the hereditary apellidos (surnames) were in use by the time of the discovery of the New World.

In Mexico many surnames of Spanish origin were given to the native Indians and African children when the priests baptized them. Others were simply baptized Juan, José, María, and so on, and later descendants obtained a surname.

Typical surnames from various parts of Spain include Castillan (Fernández, Morales), Basque (Ibanez, Vasquez), Gallego (Brétema, Seoane), Portuguese (Coelho, Ferreira), and Catalán (Ventura, Gralla).

The following suffixes of surnames show that they had a patronymic origin: az, ez, iz, oz, and uz. However, the scribes and priest often spelled the patronymic surnames with s instead of the z, and they changed the plural surname ending in s to z. Therefore the plural forms of surnames may be confused with the patronymic surname. Examples of plural names include Torres and Flores.

Spanish priests would often assign Indian family names as surnames. Some Indian surnames have been translated, such as Dzul to Caballero (gentleman), and Dzib to Escribano (scribe).

Another distinctive practice of the Spanish naming system was the double and compound surnames; a person would be known by his paternal and maternal surnames. Compound surnames (apellidos compuestos) can be found with or without a y, a dash (-) or a preposition (de, del, de la). Examples are: María García Fernández de León and José Juan Ríos-Prado y Rodríguez. While most present-day names are taken from the parents’ surnames, historically the surnames might be those of the more prominent family and even those from grandparents.

Historically, before the last 150 years, women did not take their husbands’ surname. Now a woman who married a Martínez would attach the married surname (apellido de casada) de Martínez to her first single (paternal) surname (apellido de soltera). And when she was widowed she would become Viuda de Martínez (widow). The abbreviation for viuda is vda. Thus a complete name of a single woman named María Josefa Torres Sepúlveda would become María Josefa Torres de Martínez once she married.

In telephone directories an Alonso Manuel de la Vega Martínez may be listed as VEGA MARTINEZ, Alonso Manuel de la, and the same person on announcements or on business cards could be listed as Alonso Manuel de la Vega M. A widow Ofelia Castillo vda. de León could be listed as LEÓN, Ofelia Castillo vda.

The following books are helpful for understanding naming practices: