What does "Angel" mean in a name in Spain? (country, people)

[TootsieWootsie]

I used to know a guy in Madrid by the name of Juan Lopez. I see his name listed now as:
Juan Lopez Angel or Angel Juan Lopez or even Juan Angel Lopez.
It's been years since knew him, but I am wondering if this is his son and if it means Doctor as his son is a Pediatrician it appears.

So, what does Angel signify in the name...or is that just one of his given names?

[Almrausch]

Originally Posted by TootsieWootsie

I used to know a guy in Madrid by the name of Juan Lopez. I see his name listed now as:
Juan Lopez Angel or Angel Juan Lopez or even Juan Angel Lopez.
It's been years since knew him, but I am wondering if this is his son and if it means Doctor as his son is a Pediatrician it appears.

So, what does Angel signify in the name...or is that just one of his given names?

Hello...all what I know is that...Angel was traditionally used as a masculine name. According to the encyclopedia, "The word "Angel" in English, French, German, Spanish, and many other European languages is derived from the Greek άγγελος, a masculine noun

[jtur88]

It means the same thing it means in English, and is pronounced "ahn-hel". It is a very common given name among Spanish speakers, as are a lot of other words that have religious connections. It is a boy's name, a girl would be called Angela. Like Paul/Paula in English. I knew a man in Bolivia named Arcángel = Archangel in English.

Juan Lopez would be one of the most common names in a Spanish speaking country, like John Brown. So it is nearly certain anyone names Juan Lopez would need to list his name with at least a middle name. If it is listed as Juan Lopez-Angel (with a hyphen), that would mean that Angel would have been his mother's maiden name, which he would retain as a part of his legal name, but would be primarily known as Lopez (his father's surname) and alphabetized in the phone book under L, as "Lopez-Angel Juan".

[Catbelle]

Angel means Angel, the same as in English but in Spain it is also a name for men

[Catalonia]

Originally Posted by jtur88

If it is listed as Juan Lopez-Angel (with a hyphen), that would mean that Angel would have been his mother's maiden name, which he would retain as a part of his legal name, but would be primarily known as Lopez (his father's surname) and alphabetized in the phone book under L, as "Lopez-Angel Juan".

I'm sorry but there isn't anything like "maiden names" in Spain.

Here everyone has 2 surname/last name/family name
You get the first from you father, and the secodn from your mother

Wives don't change their names when they get married.

So if you father is John Smith and you mother Megan Cusack, you'd had a name like Mike Smith Cusack

Regarding Mr. Juan López, let me also tell you that some people in Spain have two names in the given/first name. These people may use always both words, always only the first, or depending of the situation use the first or both. (So you can see that it's not the same as a middle name, we don't have those)

The option that makes msot sense to me is that OP's friend's name is "Juan Ángel López"

Also keep in mind that while a lot of south american names have religious motivations, spanish ones do not.

So "Ángel" would surely don't have any special meaning, surely it doesn't have one in the medical business

[Ruth4Truth]

It's the masculine version of the name "Angela".

[Neuling]

I guess Catalonia is the only one addressing the issue at hand

Regarding the religious aspect, indeed, down here Jesus is a completely normal first name

"So if you father is John Smith and you mother Megan Cusack, you'd had a name like Mike Smith Cusack".
OK, but what about the next generation. What part of Mike's name will his child adapt? (Although I live in Portugal, I never paid attention to naming conventions, thus I don't know. I have realized, though, that some people have incredibly long names, but usually they seem to omit most of the components.)

[GER308]

[quote=Neuling;27468207]
Regarding the religious aspect, indeed, down here Jesus is a completely normal first name

quote]


"Jesus loves you" nice to hear in church. Horrific to hear in a mexican prison

[Neuling]

I just looked up a few well-known politicians here in Portugal (where I suppose naming conventions are very similar to Spain):

Former prime minister José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, known only as José Sócrates.

The current pm Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho, known only as Passos Coelho.

Or a leftist politician Francisco Anacleto Louçã, known only as Francisco Louçã. His father is António Seixas Louçã, his mother Noémia da Rocha Neves Anacleto.

Or current finance minster Vítor Louçã Rabaça Gaspar, known only as Vítor Gaspar. His father is Vítor Manuel Rabaça Gaspar, his mother Maria Laura Seixas Louçã.

I don't really see any rule there, in the last case the son does not have any name from his mother's


Also checked the last pm from Spain, summarizing the Wiki entry:
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, only known as Rodríguez Zapatero. His father was Juan Rodríguez y García-Lozano, his mother María de la Purificación Zapatero y Valero

[Montpensier]

All Catholics have several names. As to last name conventions, vary from country to country. Of course, you find people that are supposed to be culturally Catholic in Spain named Kevin-Marvin Ramirez. Spanish Chavs have very picturesque names, Jonathan, Joel, Jennifer.

Globalization, I guess.

Ángel is a very traditional name common in certain parts of Spain, for example, a lot of Miguel Angel up north, etc.