Spanish Genealogical Word List

This list contains Spanish words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Spanish-English dictionary. (See the "Additional Resources" section below.)

Spanish is a Romance language derived from Latin. It is the national language of Spain as well as of most Latin American countries. Spanish is spoken in many parts of the United States, in regions which once were part of Mexico as well as areas where Hispanic immigrants have settled.

Language Characteristics
Spanish words for persons, places, and things (nouns) are classified as masculine or feminine. El (the masculine form of the) is used with masculine words. La (the feminine form of the) is used with feminine words. Masculine words generally end in o, r, l, and ma. Feminine words generally end in a, ión, tad, dad, tud, and umbre. Nouns which end in or are masculine; an a is added to indicate the feminine version.

Most adjectives used to describe nouns are masculine or feminine. Adjectives which end in o are masculine. Feminine adjectives end in a. For example, the married son would be translated as el hijo casado, while the married daughter would be translated as la hija casada.

Variant Forms of Words
In Spanish, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who—whose—whom or marry—marries— married are examples of words in English with variant forms. This word list gives the standard form of each Spanish word. As you read Spanish records, you will need to be aware that some words vary with usage.

Plural forms of Spanish words usually add s to the singular noun as well as to the article and adjective. Thus, el abuelo materno (the maternal grandparent) become los abuelos maternos (the maternal grandparents).

Alphabetical Order
Written Spanish uses three letters in addition to the 26 letters used in the English alphabet. These are ñ and the letter combinations ch and ll, which are considered single letters. The letter w, although not part of the Spanish alphabet, is included since it is found in a few names of foreign origin. The following list shows the letters in alphabetical order:


 * a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

This word list follows the standard English alphabetical order.

In Spanish indexes of surnames, it is important to note that prefixes (such as De la Torre) may be ignored in alphabetization. Be sure to search under both parts of a name, for example, De la Torre and Torre, de la.

Accent Marks
Vowels in Spanish can carry an accent mark: á, é, í, ó, and ú. Accent marks do not affect alphabetical order.

Spelling
Although Spanish spelling was standardized in the mid-1700s, scribes usually spelled words the way they sounded. Generally, variations between old and modern spellings should not cause too much trouble for the researcher. In Spanish, the following variations are common:


 * ch used for  c
 * e used for  i
 * j used for  g
 * j used for  x
 * j used for  i
 * y used for  i


 * the addition or removal of an h
 * the doubling of letters

Examples:



Additional Resources
This word list includes only the words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Spanish-English dictionary. Several Spanish-English dictionaries are available at the Family History Library. These are in the European collection. The call numbers begin with 463.21.

The following dictionary may be helpful in your research:


 * Cassell's Spanish-English, English-Spanish Dictionary. New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1978. (FHL book 463.21 C272c 1978.)

Additional dictionaries are listed in the Subject section of the Family History Library Catalog under SPANISH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES. Most bookstores also carry inexpensive Spanish-English dictionaries.

Key Words
To find and use specific types of Spanish records, you will need to know some key words in Spanish. This section gives key genealogical terms in English and the Spanish words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Spanish words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Spanish records to indicate marriage. Variant endings of Spanish words are given in parentheses.

Numbers
The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3, etc.) and the ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) versions of each number. In actual usage, days of the month are almost never written in ordinal form. Ordinal numbers end in o or a depending on the gender of the thing described. Ordinal numbers above 31 are rarely seen in genealogical sources.

Numbers such as 16, 22, and 31 are compound numbers joined by y (and). In modern Spanish, these numbers can also be written as a single word, for example:



Dates and Time
In Spanish records, dates are usually written out. Although English uses ordinal numbers, such as the tenth of July or July 10th, in Spanish the cardinal numbers are almost always used for the days of the month; for example, el diez de julio (the ten of July). The one exception is the first of the month, for which the ordinal number primero (1ero) is almost always used instead of the cardinal number uno, for example:


 * A los veinte y tres días de marzo del año de nuestro Señor de mil ochocientos y treinta y seis. [On the twenty-three day of the month of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred thirty six.] To understand Spanish dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding "Numbers" section.

Racial Terminology
In colonial Latin America, racial classification was often recorded in the Catholic parish registers and government documents, often with no degree of accuracy. The meaning of some of these terms may vary in some Spanish-speaking countries.

General Word List
This general word list includes words commonly seen in genealogical sources. Numbers, months, and days of the week are listed both here and in separate sections prior to this list. Racial terminology is listed separately.

In this list, optional versions of Spanish words or variable endings (such as adjectives and some plural or feminine endings) are given in parentheses. Parentheses in the English column clarify the definition.