A few notes on Spanish surnames: The overwhelming rule for Spain has been the use of two surnames (but there are outlier variations that we'll look at). The standard use is that a child receives the fathers first surname in first place, and the mothers first surname in second place, such as mine, example: Eloy Escagedo Gutierrez. But in the United States, where I was born, generally speaking, we only adopt the first, just the paternal surname, as in Eloy Escagedo, omitting the maternal surname. In recent times, Spain now allows for children to be named in the reverse manner, maternal surname first, and paternal surname second, I'm sure that there are some in recent times that have adopted this, but the overwhelming standard is, and has been, Paternal followed by the maternal surname. In the past, in peninsular Spain, there were other variations of this to also keep in mind. At times we'll run into compound surnames which are curious situations, as an example: Gutierrez de Escagedo; Rodriguez de Escagedo; and Diaz de Escagedo (two surnames as one). Things become interesting with people back then, where they would either keep their compound surname, or drop one to keep the other. As an example: Rodriguez de Escagedo, became Rodriguez, and Gutierrez de Escagedo became Escagedo. So in fact, there are some that carry Rodriguez today, that may be related to those that carry Escagedo today. The reason we use "may be", is because there are other circumstances to keep in mind. As an example: Though the surname Escagedo is rare (around 300 people carry it today), it is a toponymic name, likely acquired from a place or location by more than one family. Escagedo, likely comes from (Escajo), a thorny plant that grows wild across Cantabria. Again, the key idea here is, back in time there could have been more than one family that adopted the surname, though in this case, at the very least, the name appears regional to Cantabria. There are other surname variations too, for places, things, and first names becoming surnames such as: Espejo (mirror), De La Riva (rivers edge or seaside), Rodriguez (son of Rodrigo, and the earlier Visigothic form, son of Hrodric). In some towns in the north, surnames also varied from the standard paternal first, maternal second. In some cases, a child would acquire both of their father's surnames, and none from the mother. Likewise, the opposite would occur, where the child would receive both of the mothers surnames, and none from the father. This was noted in the towns of Toranzo and Carriedo, by Mateo Escagedo Salmon, Chronicler for the Province of Santander (my great-granduncle). There are also other considerations such as spelling, for instance: Escagedo is also written as Escajedo, or Escaxedo. Or Ceballos can also be written as Zeballos. In many cases, these different ways of spelling the same surname, would occur within the same family, and among siblings. And to add another layer of complication, the scribes and notaries that recorded church and civil records, at times would write these surnames differently, and sometimes differently, even among the same family members. At this point it is good to note that sometime around 1500, Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros, put into practice the naming convention that became the standard in Spain, Paternal surname first, followed by the maternal. Before this time, many within the same family could have different surnames depending on occupation, gender, and any number of other factors, such as a first born carrying both of his father's surnames, due to inheritance. This new standard with both paternal and maternal surnames being handed down,facilitated the ability to keep track of family lines, and for us today, it helps with our research. All that said, there were still variations that occurred (to a lesser degree)long after the adoption of the paternal/maternal standard we see today, well into the 1800s. What we consider a stable unchanging practice, was actually a process that evolved throughout time. I hope this is useful to someone, and Keeping it in mind when researching our Spanish ancestors.
Eloy Escagedo Gutierrez
Miami, Florida, May of 2022

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