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Hello,

My name is Cayetano, and I am from Spain. The name of Cayetano is not very common in my country but there are at least two famous people that are called so. One of them is a bullfighter and the other is the son of a contess whose name is Cayetana too.

I was named Cayetano after my father and my grandfather although I don't know neither my job nor my friends anybody called so. I think that this name came from the south of the county because my father is andalusian and he do know people in that region whith this name.

Otherwise my family name is not common in Spain but is a very simple surname. This is Naranjo and means orange tree in english.

In Spain there are a lot of family names that refer trades or proffessions, for instance we have Panadero (Baker) Carnicero (butcher) Carretero (cart driver) and thigs like that.

There are names from other countries that are popular in Spain. The most of the cases they are names of famous people like actors and actresses, singers, sportmen and sportwomen etc. But I think that only the people without culture or tradition name their children after these famous people.

In my country, when you meet someone for the first time you have to use its surname and you have to say "Señor" (Mr.) or "Señora" (Mrs.) before the family name. As well you have to sustitute the word you for the word "Usted" and to use a very polite form of the verbs. However this is a very polite form of speaking with people that you meet for the first time and day by day this costume is being lost.

You can use the first name of the other person when he or she allow you to do that way. Of course, the most of the times you start to use the first name when you have been meeting the other person for a long time and the other person is happy about you to do so because that means that you trust each other.

In my country is not very common that you use surnames without Mr. or Mrs. I think that the only place where they do that is at the school because the teacher call for the list every morning and name every pupil by its surnames, then the rest of the children in the class learn the surname of their classmates and start calling them by their surnames. I think that you can use the surname without Mr. or Mrs. in the work but this is a costume that is no very common and is being lost.

The name for the pets are very strange in Spain, almost every word can be used as a pet name with the only condition you use the diminutive. We have a bunny at home and we call it Chispita that means little Sparky in english. My sister's children have another bunny andthey call it Puka that is the name of a cartoon character. Of course the name is different and depends on the sort of the animal you have as a pet. You wouldn't use the same name for a little white mouse that for a snake or a dog. The names for cats are very different of the names of the fish although is not a good idea to name fish because ther lives are short...

Hello,

My name is Begoña and I come from Barcelona. Here most common names are Montserrat, Jordi, Mercè, Joan and any others catalan names, but not Begoña.
My family name is not common. Absolutely not. In fact, we are investigate about it because we don't know where it come from.
Actually, my name doesn't mean nothing, but in Catalonia there are some names like Forner or Sabater that refer to professions.
Here are very populars names from Spain, like García o López.
I often use his or her first name, just in a few cases I use his (or her) family name.
Usually, I use a lot of pet names, like cariño, cielo, princesa, amor, bolita, tesoro, solete... and somethings like that because I have two little children, my husband and rest of my family, and so many friends that I really love and I say them also with these words.

;-)

Hello, I am Enric from Barcelona.
The common names where I come from are Jordi, Xavier, Josep, Joan, Marc...man's name. Maria, Anna, Mireia, Laura, Silvia, Marta, woman´s name.
My family name is not a common name. I have known few people with this family name, Agud. Some have an ending T, and not a D.
This name doesn't tell something about my family, it doesn't refer to trades or professions. In Catalonia, some names refets to professions; Sabater, Ferrer, Forner,...
Some name from another country are popular for famouse people, like schumacker for Formula one.
We normally use the name, and sometimes the name and surname. If some presents himself with the name, it's a signal that I can use it.
It depends on the situation. In a meeting, business, old people, it's better to use title, as Mrs o Mr. When we are with frients, family, or in a friendly meeting we don't use them.
In catalan, my lenguage, I use worlds like carinyet, gateta, princesa, estrelle, and something like this. I love my family and I use worlds like these.

Hello,
My name is Magda. This is a short name of Magdalena. I think Magda or Magdalena is a common name because has a long tradition from Christ age. My mother's name is Maria Magdalena. I named my daughters Marina and Laura that are common names nowadays too. The family name of my husband is a very common name: Garcia. But my family name is a little common in the Baix Camp area, but not in Catalonia. It don't means nothing.
Josep, Joan, Jordi, Maria, Laura are some of the commons names in Catalonia. The common names of the children are Pau, Marc, Maria, Laura and Mohamed because d'immigration.
When I meet someone for de first time, I use his or her name, not the family name. It is very strange to use tittles; perhaps with the eldest people or with an important person.
In my family is not common to use words to show afection. But are commons names like "xata", "guapíssima", etc.

And it is all for the moment.

Magda Soronellas