names

[Isabel]

I’m from Catalonia, and in this country there are a traditionals names like Montserrat, Josep, Joan, Núria. But now the parents named their sons and daugthers with other names like Martí, Pol, Jan, Paula or Júlia
My first family name is catalan and means the person lives in the mountain
And yes, there are some names refer to professions, trades or things like Bové, Font, Pont...
Now, there are some names from the other countries like Kevin or Vanessa
I think, but I’m not sure, when you meet someone for the first time you can use the first o the family name, it depends the context
Is usually to use the surnames without the title in my country. Only in the polite situations you use the title.
Here we use differents pet names like bonica, preciós, carinyo...

[loren10]

I'm from Barcelona and some traditional names here are Marc, Xavi, Adrià, Maria, Anna and Paula.
My family name is Jimenez-Ortiz is not common because it is compound. Jimenez is one of the most common family name in Spain, and Ortiz, it's like the princess :) . My second family name Muns, seems like Catalan, but actually comes from France.
My family name don´t tell me anything about my family but there are some ones that refer to professions like Panadero or Sastre, Herrero.
Some popular names in my country that comes from abroad are Jonathan, Jennifer, Ryan.
when i meet someone for the fist time I only say their family name if I am in a formal situation- I only use Mr and Mrs in a very polite situation.
I call my boyfriend mi amor, precioso, cariño or peque.

[jcasals]

Hi, my name is Jaime.
I think the most common given names in my country are “Maria” and “Jose”, but they can vary regionally. Nevertheless, more and more children are named after famous people.
With regard the surname, my second surname “Rodriguez” is well-known around Spain. It’s so popular that the fact somebody is working while one's family is away on holiday is known as "Quedarse de Rodriguez". According the experts, this surname originally came from Castilla, where they were in the habit of adding de suffix “ez” at the end of the name in order to compose the family name.
In Spain there are several names connected with trades or professions such as “Panadero”, “Carpintero”, etc., but just to give you the best example: “Zapatero” which means person who devote his life to politics; well, I was joking!
Here, you can find names from other countries because of emigration and the influence of the media on our lives, since people take the name from famous people such as singers, footballers, etc. I can mention some of them: Emma, Angeline, Michael, and so on.
From my point of view, the way we use the first name is different if we are talking about young people or not. When young people introduce to somebody, they usually use the first name, on the contrary, old people often talk conventionally so they use the surname.
I think there are environments where it’s polite use the title Sr. or Mrs., but when we have enough confidence, we tend to dispense with formalities.

Making reference to pet names, I believe we use similar words to show affection such as darling, angel, sweetie, etc.

[eayats]

I live in a small village next to the border of France,in Catalonia. In this small village (we are just a hundred of people) the most common name is "Roqué", because there is a large family living in from centuries called like this.
My family name is Ayats and is not very common in this area, but it's quite common in la Garrotxa and el Ripollès.
My first family name tell me that the family of my father comes from the Ripollès, where this name was born probably on the nineten century.
My name does not mean anything, but there are many catalan names which mean professions (like Flaqué, Forné, Sabaté, Ferré, Ollé, ...).
In Catalonia there are many names coming from other regions of Spain due to the immigration which came from all over the country on the fifties and sixties. The most popular are Gonzalez and García.
In informal situations we use just the surname (for example when we meet someone in a party), but in a formal one we give the surname and the name. Only if the person you meet is very important, we just know the family name. In this situation we never use the surname, unless this person asks you to do it.
It is very common to use the name without the title with friends, espcialy when two or more of them has the same surname.
There are many pet names in catalan such "carquinyoli" (used when someone is very sweet). For the children we use "pesolet" or "cigronet", and we use to call our small sisters/brothers "teta" or "tet". There is a huge list of them, but these ones are the most useful wehre I live.

[teresa]

The common names in Catalan are Maria, Paula, Marc i Pol.
My family name is not very common, but I know other people who also are this surname.
My family told me my surname comes from the south of Catalonia and northern Valencia.
My first surname refers to a profession an means a person who works making or selling shoes.
The most common names of the other countries are Johnatan, Kevin, Pamela. The last years are common too Mohamed, Ahmed.
I use de first name when the person is younger than me, and I meet him out of the workplace, in an informal situation.
We can use de tittle Mrs or Mr to refer to important people.
The pet names are often used are petit/a, osset, carbasseta.

[Marinta Bonet]

I was named after my grandmother Maria Cinta, although everybody calls me Marinta.
My first name has a religious origin. According to an old story, the night of 24th of March in 1178 the Virgin Mary appeared in Tortosa ‘s Cathedral. As every day in every country of Spain, the monks used to sing Matins around twelve o’clock. It was not yet, the hour to go to the choir, but a virtuous monk had the impulse of going towards the central plant of the cathedral. When he arrived, he found the doors open and he listen someone singing the Te-Deum, which saddened him, since he thought he had been late.
Soon, he noticed that, inside the church, there was a great shining and a woman full of majesty preceded by a choir of angels was walking towards the altar.
The lady made a gesture and asked him to approach beside her. When the monk was by her side, she said to him that she was “the mother of God” and those who were nearby were her disciples. She said to him she was proud of Tortosa’s inhabitants because they had built the church in her honour, for that reason she was going to leave to them a ribbon she was wearing around his belly made by her.
Since that time, every woman in the city before giving birth used to wear a ribbon to guarantee a good delivery. This tradition is applied nowadays for the Spanish royal family. So when the royal ladies are pregnant, they use the sacred relic kept in the cathedral to assure a good birth.

Since the immigration’s increase there are lots of names coming to Catalunya that have the origin in other places in the world. As in everything there are fashions in names. These days it’s very common to find Paules, Irines o Martines in Catalunya. Names that come from the latin, greek and latin respectively and are mostly used in Argentina, Russia and Italy.

My family name is Bonet. The surname Bonet is a diminutive derivative of the form “bo”. In the 9th century, this name, as a nickname, turned up in the Latin form of “Bonetus”. It is considered itself coming from France, from where it arrived to Catalonia and later to Valencia and Mallorca.
Nicolau Bonet accompanied the king Jaume I in a galley to conquest the island of Mallorca. This monarch rewarded him from his services, offering him some lands, where the Knight set up the town of Santany.

There are around 4276 other surnames investigated by the Catalan Heraldry. We have information about the origin, meaning, arms and shield, statistics, characters and genealogy. Some of the most commons are Abad, Avellà, Alzina, Robert or Roca.

Normally in Catalunya, when people meet for the first time they use the first name or the first name plus surname depending on the context. If is a formal context, like job or appointments with aged people is more polite to use the first name plus the surname with the titles Mrs or Mr, but between young people is common to use the first name and do not use any title.

Finally, we use pet name to show affection, such “carinyet”, “amor”, “bitxo” or others, depending on the people’s imagination!