1. What are common names where you come from?
I live in Barcelona, Catalonia. Here in my country the most common names are Jordi, Joan, Oriol, Josep, Maria, Montse, Anna, Laia. It is beautiful to compare the sound and spelling of these names in comparison to the Spanish versions: Jorge, Juan, José, Maria, Montse and Laia.
2. Is your family name common?
Yes! My family name is Ferrer, a surname with an English and Catalan origin. It means blacksmith or swordsmith.
3. Does your family name tell you anything about your family (e.g., where you come from)?
Not specially, cause here in Spain is typical to have surnames from other parts of the country. In my case I think this is because of the migrations from Andalucía and Castilla to Catalonia. For example, my second surname is Montero, a typical name from Castilla.
4. Some English names refer to trades or professions, such as Butcher or Baker. Does your name mean anything? Are there any names in your country that do?
Yes! My surname is known as a smith, a blacksmith or swordsmith as I said before. This is a traditional and important job of people who work with steel.
5. Are any names from other countries popular in your country? Which ones?
Not much. Yes, some names from other countries specially from South America but actually not very common. Many years ago Kevin was popular but I don’t know why. Fortunately, now it's not very used here.
6. In your country when you meet someone for the first time, what name do you use? How do you know when you can use their first name?
In my country the people use the first name to introduce in an informal talk. Only in very formal situations, like business meetings or academic settings when people can refer to you using the surname. I think it is really different from other countries where is used more frequently the family name rather than the first name.
7. In your country do you ever use surnames without a title (e.g., Mrs or Mr)? When could you do this? Why would you do it?
No, it is really uncommon to use the title. In fact, there is a sign of obsoletism.
8. There are common pet names in English that show affection, such as honey, darling or pet. What words are used in your language?
In my country I don’t know pet names used in humans. It can be on the other side that some pets have human names, but it doesn't sound really fine.