Basque legacy in the New World: on the surnames of Latin American presidents

Abstract

[EN] In this article we explain the etymology of the surnames of Basque origin that some presidents of Latin American countries have or have had in the past. These family names were created in the language called Euskara, in the Basque Country (Europe), and then, when some of the people who bore them emigrated to America, they brought their surnames with them. Most of the family names studied here are either oiconymic or toponymic, but it must be kept in mind that the oiconymic ones are, very often, based on house-nicknames, that is, they are anthroponymic in the first place. As far as possible, we have related the surname, when its origin is oiconymic or toponymic, to its source, i.e. to the house or place where it was created.

[EUS] Artikulu honetan Erdialdeko eta Hego Amerikako herrialdeetako presidente batzuek dituzten eta izan dituzten euskal jatorriko deituren etimologia azaltzen dugu. Abizenok euskararen barnean sortu ziren, Euskal Herrian, eta euskaldunek Ameriketara emigratu zutelarik eraman zituzten berekin. Aztertzen diren deitura gehienak etxe edo toki izenak dira, baina aintzat hartu behar da oikonimikoek, askotan, etxe izengoitietan dutela sorburu, hots, antroponimikoak zirela hasmentan. Ahal izan dugunean abizena iturriarekin lotu dugu, etorkiz etxe edo leku izena zenean, alegia, deitura sortu zen etxe edo lekuarekin batu dugu.