Spanish Genealogical Word List

This list contains Spanish words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Spanish-English dictionary. (See the "Additional Resources" section below.)

Spanish is a Romance language derived from Latin. It is the national language of Spain as well as of most Latin American countries. Spanish is spoken in many parts of the United States, in regions which once were part of Mexico as well as areas where Hispanic immigrants have settled.

Language Characteristics
Spanish words for persons, places, and things (nouns) are classified as masculine or feminine. El (the masculine form of the) is used with masculine words. La (the feminine form of the) is used with feminine words. Masculine words generally end in o, r, l, and ma. Feminine words generally end in a, ión, tad, dad, tud, and umbre. Nouns which end in or are masculine; an a is added to indicate the feminine version.

Most adjectives used to describe nouns are masculine or feminine. Adjectives which end in o are masculine. Feminine adjectives end in a. For example, the married son would be translated as el hijo casado, while the married daughter would be translated as la hija casada.

Variant Forms of Words
In Spanish, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who—whose—whom or marry—marries— married are examples of words in English with variant forms. This word list gives the standard form of each Spanish word. As you read Spanish records, you will need to be aware that some words vary with usage.

Plural forms of Spanish words usually add s to the singular noun as well as to the article and adjective. Thus, el abuelo materno (the maternal grandparent) become los abuelos maternos (the maternal grandparents).

Alphabetical Order
Written Spanish uses three letters in addition to the 26 letters used in the English alphabet. These are ñ and the letter combinations ch and ll, which are considered single letters. The letter w, although not part of the Spanish alphabet, is included since it is found in a few names of foreign origin. The following list shows the letters in alphabetical order:

a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

This word list follows the standard English alphabetical order.

In Spanish indexes of surnamesLook this term up in the glossary., it is important to note that prefixes (such as De la Torre) may be ignored in alphabetization. Be sure to search under both parts of a name, for example, De la Torre and Torre, de la.

Accent Marks

Vowels in Spanish can carry an accent mark: á, é, í, ó, and ú. Accent marks do not affect alphabetical order.

Spelling

Although Spanish spelling was standardized in the mid-1700s, scribes usually spelled words the way they sounded. Generally, variations between old and modern spellings should not cause too much trouble for the researcher. In Spanish, the following variations are common:

ch 	used for 	c e 	used for 	i j 	used for 	g j 	used for 	x j 	used for 	i y 	used for 	i

the addition or removal of an h   the doubling of letters

Examples:

chrisma 	now written as 	crisma excrebir 	now written as 	escribir lejítimo 	now written as 	legítimo Méjico 	now written as 	México domjngo 	now written as 	domingo yndio 	now written as 	indio Henrique 	now written as 	Enrique religiosso 	now written as 	religioso

Return to top of page

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

This word list includes only the words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Spanish-English dictionary. Several Spanish-English dictionaries are available at the Family History LibraryLook this term up in the glossary.. These are in the European collection. The call numbers begin with 463.21.

The following dictionary may be helpful in your research:

Cassell's Spanish-English, English-Spanish Dictionary. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1978. (FHL book 463.21 C272c, 1978.)

Additional dictionaries are listed in the Subject section of the Family History Library CatalogLook this term up in the glossary. under SPANISH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES. Most bookstores also carry inexpensive Spanish-English dictionaries.

Return to top of page

KEY WORDS

To find and use specific types of Spanish records, you will need to know some key words in Spanish. This section gives key genealogical terms in English and the Spanish words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Spanish words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Spanish records to indicate marriage. Variant endings of Spanish words are given in parentheses.

English 	Spanish archive 	archivo baptism 	bautismo, bauticé, bautizado (a), bautismo, crisma birth 	nacimiento, nació, nacido (a) burial 	entierro, sepultura, entierrado (a), sepultado (a) Catholic church 	Iglesia Católica census 	censo, padrón child 	niño (a), hijo (a), párvulo (a), expósito christening 	See baptism church records 	registros parroquiales civil registry 	Registro Civil confirmation 	confirmación, crisma day 	día English 	Spanish death 	muerte, defunción, fallecimiento, óbito, muerto (a), difunto (a), fallecido (a) father 	padre husband 	esposo, marido, cónyuge index 	índice marriage 	matrimonio, casamiento, casé, casado (a) military 	militar, ejército month 	mes morning 	mañana mother 	madre name, given 	nombre de pila, nombre de bautismo name, surname 	nombre, apellido parents 	padres parish 	parroquia wife 	esposa, marida, mujer, cónyuge year 	año