NAMES

[NEUS]

I come from Barcelona, but I live in Llavaneres, a small village near Barcelona, in the Maresme coast. In Llavaneres the most common names are Graupera, Passi, Spa, Cabot, Sala, Giralt......... My family name is COLL; it’s a very common family name in Catalonia. It comes from the latin word “collis” and means pass among mountains or hill. In my country there are some names refer to professions as Fuster, Sabater, Pagès, Forner, Barber, Ferrer, Pintor, Teixidor and more. There are also names from other countries, specially from Portugal and France, popular in my country as Oliveira, Da Silva, Cabanes, Portellat.... When we meet someone for the first time we use a title (senyor, senyora o senyoreta) and their family name, but we can use their first name when we have more confidence with them or they are children. We use surnames without a title with the family, friends, colleagues of work, because we meet them almost every day and we share privacy. In our language (catalan) we use common pet names as carinyo, boleta, peluchito, bichito........