Surnames identify us with respect to our origin, they refer to who our parents are, as well as create the feeling of belonging to a specific family. However, beyond the practical value of surnames, they also have very diverse origins, which constitutes an element of important cultural richness, since they provide information not only about our origins but also about certain elements related to the circumstances in which we live. that name was forged that serves to identify a group of people from the same family. One of the most widespread surnames in Spain and much of Latin America is García, which has its origins in the lands of Navarre and, although it may surprise many, it is a surname of much older origin than one might think. the origin of the Garcia surname, its meaning, and coats of arms keep reading aHOWTO and we’ll tell you about it.
Meaning of the surname Garcia and coats of arms
There are different theories regarding the meaning of this surname so common in Spain. According to most theories, García would fit into the family of patronymic surnames, that is, those that refer to a specific origin or lineage.
Likewise, according to the most widespread theory defended by the historian and heraldist Alberto Montaner Frutos, the meaning of García would be “bear”. Specifically, it would be a word of Basque origin that would sound like “(h)Artz” (bear), and which would later become “(h)area”. This formula would have been changing and evolved over the centuries until it became our current García. So, when speaking of the Garcias, they were literally speaking of the “family of bears”, although any other meaning that would allow us to know the reason why the Garcias had been called in this way forms part of the interpretation current that you want to make of this fact.
There are many more meanings, depending on the time in which we stop. For example, it is also known that Garcia in the ancient Gothic language meant “prince of graceful sight”.
Likewise, there are a variety of shields. In some, you can see a heron, on different backgrounds, with different edges, and even with different postures. In other shields, we can see lions, although those that frame a heron predominate.
Origin of the surname Garcia
Continuing with the theory of Alberto Montaner Frutos that places the origin of the García surname in the Basque “(h)Artz”, we would find that the origin of this surname sinks its roots in pre- Roman Hispania. In this way, it could be said that the origin of this surname would be in the Iberian and Aquitanian peoples (southern France) prior to the Romanization of the Iberian Peninsula.
Later, after the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the surname would have been romanized, having survived until the Visigothic Kingdom and the Middle Ages. In fact, the surname García, written as such, appears in documents for the first time in the Kingdom of Navarre, specifically in documents from the years 789 and 791. In other words, there is documentation from the 8th century that already testifies that it was a surname present in the society of the time in the same way in which we find it today, so it is conceivable that its current form is even older.
Variations of the surname Garcia
Now that we know the meaning and origin of the García surname, as well as some of its coats of arms, it only remains to talk about the surnames that derive from it. Although Garcia is the most common and well-known surname, philologists have determined that the original “(h)Artz” evolved in many different ways. That is to say, in reality, we do not have a single surname that means “bear” and whose origins must be found in pre-Roman Hispania. Some of these lesser-known variants, but with the same origin, are the following:
- Gacia
- Gació
- Gaciot
- Garcea
- Garceller
- Garces
- Garcia (no accent mark)
- Garcias
- Garcias
- Garsea
- gartzea
- gartzes
- gartzia
- Waiter
- Gasia
- Gaztea
Likewise, beyond the variations that may have arisen from the initial “(h)Artz”, there are also other variations that have arisen from the evolution and fusion of surnames as a result of an original García that results in the creation of compound surnames but that, despite the form they have, constitute a single surname. These surnames usually originate as a result of the union of two surnames (usually that of the father and mother). Traditionally, the father’s surname prevailed over the mother’s, although currently at birth a son or daughter can be put in the preferred order or even change the order of the surnames later. However, in certain cases, and to prevent the maternal surname from being relegated to second place and becoming invisible, it was decided to join both surnames into a new one that would give rise to a compound surname. This made it possible to preserve the origin of both families, which was especially relevant when the woman came from a high social status or whose origin was aristocratic.
On the other hand, it could also be the case that the compound surname was the result of adding the place of origin to the already existing surname, which served to differentiate between two people with the same surname but who had no family relationship.
Some examples of these compound surnames arising from the initial García surname are the following:
- Garcia de Vicuna
- Garcia de Zuniga
- Garcia Orobio
- Garcia de Barbon
- Garcia de Camargo
- Garcia de la Lama
- Garcia de la Vega
- Garcia de Leo
- Garcia Yanez
- Garcia Huidobro
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