Basque Naming Customs

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• Behind the Name: Basque Surnames
• Behind the Name: Basque Given Names

Surnames

• Basque surnames are surnames with Basque-language origins or a long, identifiable tradition in the Basque Country (which comprises the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain and the Northern Basque Country in France).
• Basque surnames can be divided into two main types, patronymic and non-patronymic.
• Patronymics are by far the most common surnames in the whole of the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre. The patronymics are derived from the father through the suffix -ez, -oz, -iz or -az which means 'of'.
• The Basque language also expresses family links with the genitive suffix -(r)ena, e.g. Perurena, Arozena, etc., meaning 'belonging to'.
• The non-patronymic surnames are often toponymic (geographical) ones that refer to the family's "etxea", the historically all important family home. When a farm (baserri) was rented to another family, often the new tenants were known locally by the farm name rather than by their officially registered surname.
• Medieval Basque names follow a descriptive naming pattern about the person, pointing to physical features, family relations, or geographical origin.