By Juan Alvarado

This is an interesting list of surnames commonly seen among people of Hispanic descent and among the people of Spain. Juan Galvan sent me this list (most of), which is attributable to Francisco Rodriguez. I have been personally working on my own list of Spanish names, place names, and words, some of which I have interspersed within this list. Many of the names he listed I had also found, so there are many commonalities within our studies. There is also some divergence. Wherever there are names in disagreement, I have placed the name and/or word I think most probable as well as left Francisco’s own research on the subject. I’ll leave it up to the reader to make up his/her mind on the subject. The names I’ve added are in italics.

I would like to point out that even though we are eager to see an Islamic connection in everything Hispanic, we should bear in mind that not everything is Islamic or comes from the Moors or their languages (Arabic and Berber). A case in point is the name Alonso which was adopted by the conqueror of that city in Spain after the collapse of Moorish rule there. Other names are Arabized forms of names already in existence such as Zaragoza which was none other than the Arabic pronunciation of Caesarea Augustus (some words not only have an Arabic pronunciation but a North African Arabic pronunciation, hence the surname Amezquita comes from al-masgid which is from the standard al-masjid). Many names and words have a Mozarabic origin — an origin that mixes Arabic and Latin/old Spanish such as Guadalupe. Guadalupe comes from Wadi al-Lupus (Wadi being Arabic for River or Valley and Lupus from Latin for Wolf). To further complicate things, many Spanish Muslims shared the same names with their Christian and Jewish compatriots, most of which were not Moorish in origin.

Francisco, a Hispanic Muslim like us, had taken the Islamic name of Ahmad Abdullah Al Birzali. I don’t know Francisco but it is my personal opinion is that he took the surname “Al-Birzali” because it has some Moorish significance with regards to old Andalusia. Unfortunately, Juan Galvan lost contact with Francisco Rodriguez. Insha’Allah (or Ojalá) we will be able to contact him again. It would have been great to have collaborated further with him in regards to this most interesting subject. In any case, Francisco posted this curious message to the LADO (www.LatinoDawah.org) Yahoogroup. He sent a list of Spanish names commonly seen today that are derived from old Moorish names from Islamic Spain (Al-Andalus). As an example, Juan Galvan’s surname is derived from the Arabic word Qalb. ‘Qalb’ literally means “heart” in Arabic.

Francisco wrote to Juan Galvan stating: “It is odd and strange to explain the meaning behind some of these Mudejar and Morisco names simply because the history of the Mudejares and Moriscos of Spain was so diluted and oppressed by Castilian Christians after the Inquisition. But rest assured, I did my research and along with some help from some Mudejares in Spain and Muslims in Morocco. I was able to determine some lost histories and formulate this list. Mind you, this was only a sample of a few that I found and people that I was contacted by! What that means is that there are potentially many more. This is just an example!”

Juan Galvan asked Francisco to translate each of the names and/or words. Francisco told him: ‘Don’t have much time but Al-Mani‘ means “the Preventer” (also the Withholder, the Shielder, the Defender) and is one of Allah’s 99 (most beautiful and perfect) names. Al-Qasr means “the castle.” I must tell you that as far the rest of the names, I know most of their meanings but not all. It is probably because they belonged to old Al-Andalus (since lots of Arabic and Berber names and words were Hispanized). When I get more time, insha’Allah, tomorrow, I will try to send you a list of definitions of the meanings of these words. Trust me, Birzali was hard to translate because most Arabs and Berbers did not know much about its origins. Some Berbers, though, say that it sounds more Berber to them. I got lots of the names from the Internet page that had a whole list of old Arabic- Andalusian surnames. Al-Birzali was one of them. A Berber told me at the mosque that it means “worthy one” hence Ahmad ‘Abdullah Al Birzali!’

You may find your last name within the following list. I do, however, disagree with some of the findings. Some of the names can be seen to be of Spanish/Latin origin. Others could conceivably be of Moorish origin (from Arabic or Berber or a mixture of these and other languages). Still others are undoubtedly of Moorish origin. Again, that may or may not prove that you have a Moorish background. That should not matter, however, if you are Muslim. What distinguishes us as Muslims to Allah Subhanaahu wa Ta’Ala is not your ancestry but your belief (imán) and piety (taqwa).

The following names have either Arab or Berber origins: