Basque surnames

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 o 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.[6]

During the medieval period Basque names were written broadly following the spelling conventions of the official languages of the day, usually Spanish and French. The main differences lie in the way the relatively large number of Basque sibilants 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 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.[7]

Note that in the French-based spellings the D is unhistoric and represents the French partitive particle d' "of".

Relieve with the names of the farmhouses of Getxo, on the wall of Saint Mary's church.

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, Sabino Arana, 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. [a first title of Castilian origin; usually a patronymic which uses the Basque suffix -ez] + de + [a Basque place-name (usually a village)],[4]^: 23–24 take for instance Fernández de Larrinoa, Ruiz de Gauna or López de Luzuriaga, meaning 'Fernández from Larrinoa', etc., which does not imply a noble origin. Therefore, surnames can be very long if both paternal and maternal surnames are required when filling out a form for example. Such forms have been found from as early as 1053.[8]

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 ethnonymic 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 (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.[9]

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 recent[8]

Surnames from either category are formed using nouns, adjectives, a number of suffixes and endings such as the absolutive ending -a, the adjectival suffix -ko, and the genitive ending -ren. An example of the second class are Martinikorena ("Martinico's [house]", Martinico being a Navarrese hypocorism for Martin). Another would be Mikelena, "Michael's".

The following examples all relate to the location of the family home.

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, the former Spanish colonies, but largely in Latin America, and parts of the United States such as Idaho where substantial numbers of Basques emigrated to.

• Legal name
• Patronymic
• Personal name
• Surname map
• Ocho apellidos vascos

• Etxegoien, J. Orhipean: Gure Herria ezagutzen Xamar: 1992, ISBN 84-7681-119-5
• Gorrotxategi, M. Nomenclátor de apellidos vascos/Euskal deituren izendegia Euskaltzaindia: 1998
• Michelena, L. Apellidos vascos (5th edition), Txertoa: 1997
• Trask, L. The History of Basque, Routledge: 1997, ISBN 0-415-13116-2

• Etymological list of Basque surnames