The Map with the Typical Surnames of Each Autonomous Community in Spain

According to the definition by the RAE, a surname is 'the name that people inherit from their parents and by which their affiliation is established. It is not an attribute of the individual, but of the family to which they belong and, therefore, is not subject to arbitrary choice or modification.' In short, a surname can reveal whether you come from a noble family or if there's Viking blood running through your veins.

Today, however, we are not going to investigate whether you have Eskimo ancestors or if you are lucky enough to have one of the rarest surnames in each Autonomous Community. Today we are focusing on 'the typical' and will discover the most common surnames in each Autonomous Community.

The first records of surnames in Spain date back to the last third of the 9th century when they were formed by derivation from the name of the father or an ancestor among the noble classes. This custom spread to all social classes, and in 1870 a system was established that included two surnames, one paternal and one maternal.

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) is the organization responsible for compiling the surnames of all residents in Spain and has a comprehensive search engine that allows us to discover how many people share our surnames.

Checking the data, we find that García is the most common surname in Spain, borne by almost one and a half million people. Following closely are surnames like Rodríguez, González, and Fernández. However, it should be noted that the distribution of surnames varies depending on the Autonomous Community in which we find ourselves.

Other very common surnames in Spain include: López, Martínez, Sánchez, Pérez, Gómez, Martín, Jiménez, Hernández, Ruiz, Díaz, Moreno, Muñoz, Álvarez, Romero, Gutiérrez, Alonso, Navarro, Torres, Domínguez, Ramírez, Ramos, Vázquez, Gil, Serrano, Morales, or Molina.

According to the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia, the most used and widespread surname continues to be García, which accompanies 6.28% of the Andalusian population. Huelva is the province with the least presence among the population (5.14%) while Granada has the most (7.06%). Following García are Rodríguez, López, Sánchez, and Fernández with percentages varying between 4.63% and 4.13% respectively.

In Aragon, the five most frequent surnames are: García, Pérez, Martínez, López, and Sánchez. Nearly 28,000 people carry García as their first surname in their ID.

The most common surnames in the Canary Islands (first surname) are Rodríguez, González, Hernández, Pérez, and García. However, as the reader might imagine, these are not originally from the islands and therefore coexist with others that come from the aboriginals (such as Oramas, Tacoronte, Guanche, or Bencomo) or from Roman conquerors (Bethencourt, Marichal, Perdomo, or Bristol).

In Cantabria, we find almost 600 different surnames, with Fernández being the most numerous. In this community, surnames whose etymology has Celtic origins are also abundant.

We continue to delve into the INE and discover that García, Martínez, and Sánchez are the surnames that repeat the most in Castilla-La Mancha. García is the most common in the provinces of Albacete, Toledo, Ciudad Real, and Guadalajara, while Martínez dominates in Cuenca.

In Castilla y León, the first surname is García, far ahead of the rest; it is also the most common in six of the nine provinces (Valladolid, Burgos, Palencia, Segovia, Soria, and Zamora). In Ávila, Martín is predominant, in León, Fernández, and in Salamanca, Sánchez takes the lead as the majority surname.

No surprises in Catalonia, as García also tops the list in all four provinces. Martínez takes second place in popularity, also found in all provinces. The first variations occur in the third position: Barcelona, Lleida, and Tarragona have López, while in Girona, Rodríguez occupies that position, with López in fourth place.

We consult the Institute of Statistics of the Community of Madrid, which indicates that 'the star surname by frequency is García with 220,000 cases, followed by Fernández, Sánchez, and González with 129,000 each, López 121,000, Rodríguez 117,000, and lastly, among the more than one hundred thousand, Martín, with 103,000. Among the top ten, they sum over 1.2 million people, accounting for 20% of the entire population.'

In Navarre, there have been changes in the latest rankings. If until now Martínez was the dominant surname, García (of course) has taken the lead thanks to the 11,674 residents of Navarre who carry it as their first surname, with a rate of 17.4 per 1,000 inhabitants. Following García are Martínez, Jiménez, and López.

Consulting the Valencian Institute of Statistics (IVE), we discover that 'the most common surname in the Valencian Community is García, followed by Martínez and López. This also occurs in the provinces of Castellón and Valencia, while in Alicante the third most common surname is Pérez. When considering the regional level, the most common surname in each of the regions is either García, Martínez, or Pérez, except in els Ports and Rincón de Ademuz, where the most common surname is Querol and Blasco respectively.

The Institute of Statistics of Extremadura reveals that the most frequent surnames among residents in Extremadura are García, González, and Sánchez in the province of Badajoz; and Sánchez, García, and Martín in Cáceres.

Rodríguez, Fernández, and González are the most common surnames in Galicia, although they are closely followed by others like López, García, and Pérez. We have to go down to the 11th position on the list to find a genuinely Galician surname like Castro; in fact, 2% of the inhabitants of Galicia share this surname.

In the Balearic Islands, around 18% of the residents have García as their first surname. They are followed by Martínez, López, Rodríguez, Sánchez, Fernández, González, Pérez, and Torres. We have to go down to the tenth position to find a surname from the islands: Pons.

Martínez is the most used surname in La Rioja. Four out of every hundred residents have Martínez listed under their name on their ID. Following closely are García, Fernández, and Pérez.

In the Basque Country, there are no surprises, as García returns to lead. According to the Royal Academy of the Basque Language, Euskaltzaindia, this surname was first used here, as there are documents from the year 789 that already mention Garzia.

In Asturias, Fernández leads, but is closely followed by García, González, Álvarez, Rodríguez, Martínez, Suárez, López, Pérez, and Díaz.

Martínez is the most common surname in Murcia, but can you guess which is the second most used? Bingo, García. Behind them are Sánchez, López, and Pérez. In total, 8 of the 10 most repeated surnames in the Region of Murcia are also part of the national average, albeit with a change in order.

The most common surnames among residents in Ceuta are Mohamed, Ahmed, García, Abdeselam, and Sánchez. Interestingly, Mohamed also leads the list of most popular names.

A similar situation occurs in Melilla, where the most common surname is Mohamed, followed by García, López, and Martínez. Mohamed is also the most common name, and it is very likely that if you visit the city, you will end up meeting a Mohamed Mohamed.

In summary, it is not unusual for the reader who has made it this far to carry the surname García on their ID. Moreover, it seems that this surname has a long history that dates back to Spanish medieval nobility. Several kings and nobles have borne this surname, which spread throughout the centuries in various regions of the Iberian Peninsula.