Hispanic Last Names

A complete unique and different way to come up with a child's name, the Hispanic community takes a lot of pride in it. Every culture, country, and people have their own sets of rules, norms, and method of keeping last names for themselves. Same can be said for the Hispanic people. In this article, we are going to find out what their method is and how does a child get his/her name.

How a Family Name is Selected

Since the 12th century, Hispanic last names or surnames have been around. If you ever have been in contact or know about the vast, rich Hispanic culture, you might know the fact that children are commonly given two last names, rather than one. These two last names come from both his/her parents. For example, let's say that Hugo Martinez Lopez married Isabella Alvarez Moreno. Their child will be named Jesus/Claudia Lopez Alvarez. The middle name for the child comes from his/her father's name (Martinez) and the last name comes from his/her mother's maiden name (Alvarez). Although this typical acceptance is no longer a "must" for Spanish origin families. Due to a change of law in Spain, the two last names are reversed, where the mother's surname is taken first, and then the father's surname follows. At times, someone from a different culture and non-Spanish country might find this concept confusing, only because the concept is pretty different.

Another issue that crops up from Spanish-speaking families living in the United States, where there's no norm to incorporate two different family names for the child. Hence, when such an issue comes into play, parents mostly drop the second last name and let the child use his/her father's paternal family name. Or, another solution, where the child can keep both family names is by placing a hyphen in middle of both names. So for Jesus or Claudia, their names would become Jesus Martinez-Alvarez or Claudia Martinez-Alvarez.

List of Hispanic Last Names

Now that we have a clear understanding on how Hispanic family names are passed from generation to generation, we can go over the different last names. As you look below, you can see a table which contains a list of last names. Read them carefully. You might just find your last name or a friend's.

A	Abaurrea	Acasta	Adargo	Aguaristi	Aguera
	Alamos	Albarez	Ajuntas	Alavarado	Arguellez
	Alvarez	Aguilar	Alvarado	Acosta	Avila
B	Balbastro	Balboa	Barbosa	Berrera	Bibiano
	Bidal	Boltares	Borquez	Brisuela	Burbano
C	Caballa	Cabanero	Camanez	Cegarra	Charcas
	Cerda	Cicilia	Cobelo	Contrera	Conejero
	Cruz	Chavez	Castillo	Castro	Calderon
D	Dalama	Dealejandro	Devolin	Diego	Dimas
	Doce	Dopazo	Durango	Dorantes	Domenguez
	Diaz	Delgado	Dominguez	Duran	Deleon
E	Eiriz	Elenes	Encizo	Endoso	Emperador
	Escovado	Escota	Estevez	Espinoz	Estebane
F	Florez	Fernandez	Figueroa	Fuentes	Francisco
	Fajardo	Fanego	Farrera	Figoroa	Figueras
	Flopes	Flemate	Flores	Folgar	Fonseca
E	Galavez	Galban	Galguera	Galvez	Garcia
	Garza	Gerardo	Gerro	Gerusa	Gomez
	Gonzales	Gozales	Gonzabes	Goroza	Gutierrez
	Guzman	Gonzalez	Guerrero	Galvan	Galindo
H	Herandez	Higares	Hierro	Hermoso	Hervas
	Hipolito	Huante	Horacio	Hirtado	Homar
	Hernandez	Herrera	Huerta	Hurtado	Hildago
I	Ibanez	Ilarraza	Inserni	Imas	Iglecias
	Irlas	Iroz	Isla	Islava	Ivanez
J	Jacas	Jacinto	Janero	Jover	Janero
	Juanez	Juanitas	Jusino	Juvera	Jurado
	Jimenez	Juarez	Jaramillo	Jaimes	Jasso
L	Labiosa	Lagunas	Lapaz	Laosa	Lajara
	Lacruz	Lamorena	Larreta	Llambes	Leonis
	Lopez	Lara	Leon	Lozano	Lugo
M	Madoz	Madriz	Maceno	Manito	Miato
	Magdael	Malana	Manzanero	Mancito	Marreno
	Martinez	Morales	Mendoza	Medina	Moreno
	Munoz	Mendez	Marquez	Molina	Mejia
N	Napolez	Nieva	Noceda	Nigos	Nira
	Norona	Nogales	Norales	Nisperos	Nuanez
O	Obezo	Ocanto	Ogaz	Ojito	Olvera
	Olivera	Opio	Orozeo	Oriba	Ortez
	Ortiz	Ortega	Ochoa	Orozco	Osorio
P	Pacho	Piaz	Palgon	Pedreiro	Pariz
	Perez	Pena	Pacheco	Padilla	Ponce
	Pargas	Pagueros	Pegoda	Pinalez	Pintos
Q	Queiro	Quines	Quesado	Quitos	Quita
	Quinal	Quireno	Quijano	Quilez	Quintera
R	Rabia	Ramierez	Resurez	Raspaldo	Raventos
	Regalos	Renderos	Riveira	Rivaz	Ricardo
	Rivera	Ramirez	Ruiz	Reyes	Rodriguez
	Ramos	Romero	Rodriquez	Rios	Rojas
S	Sanchez	Soto	Salazar	Santiago	Sosa
	Saldana	Sandoval	Silva	Salinas	Solis
	Saborio	Salazan	Salivas	Salinos	Sanchz
	Sanlucas	Sapinoso	Santamarina	Santos	Santana
T	Torres	Trujillo	Trevino	Trejo	Tovar
	Tamarez	Tamez	Tavales	Tapia	Tico
	Telleria	Telas	Tejo	Tezino	Torrez
U	Urraca	Uranday	Urrabaz	Urrea	Urrego
	Urcadez	Urive	Urdaz	Urtez	Urtiaga
V	Valdez	Vaiza	Valdonado	Valdriz	Vejarano
	Veloz	Veracruz	Valleja	Viejo	Vilas
	Vasquez	Vega	Vargas	Velasquez	Villa
X	Ximenes	Xiques	Xuarez	Xochicale	Ximinez
Y	Yanez	Yabara	Ynegas	Ydrogo	Ysassi
	Yroz	Ynigo	Yebara	Yepez	Ypina
Z	Zaldana	Zaldua	Zapara	Zamaco	Zapata
	Zardo	Zarria	Zarcos	Zaragoza	Zermeno

These were some of the popular last names in the Hispanic community which have been used over for centuries. As huge, interesting, and at times confusing the culture may be, the practice of a child being given two family names comes due to its Arabic influence. Over the centuries, minor alterations have been made in the Hispanic culture of giving and using names.