Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century

by Juliana de Luna (Julia Smith, julias@alumni.pitt.edu)
© 1999-2000 by Julia Smith; all rights reserved.


Men's Given Names

Men's given names in Spain in the late 15th century are less diverse than they were in neighboring Portugal at the time [1], but roughly equivalent to men's given names in 16th century Spain.[2] Eighty-six men's names (those mentioned twice or more in this data) account for almost 94% of individuals. The most common name, Juan, accounts for almost 20% of all men. The top 5 names account for 53% of individuals; the top 10 names account for 68% of individuals. There is a great deal of variability in spelling of names at this time. I have chosen in the list below to group together names such as Fernan and Fernando, which were used interchangeably for the same person.

All men who are definitely Castilian have a single given name. A single man (José Ramón Folch de Cardona) has what appears to be a second given name. From his name, he is probably not Castillian, but Catalan (where second given names are more common.).

The top 10 men's names (in their most common spellings) are:

  1. Juan
  2. Pedro
  3. Diego
  4. Fernando
  5. Alonso
  6. Francisco
  7. Rodrigo
  8. Martin
  9. Gonçalo
  10. Garcia

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