Catalan Last Name Generator

500 Catalan surnames in Catalan spelling, from Puig, Ferrer and Vila to Llull, Ferragut and Domènech. Surnames only, one per entry, with the accents and the middle dot kept.

About Catalan last names

Catalan surnames are easy to spot once you know the spelling. A final -ig sounds like the ch in match (Puig, Roig, Reig), ny does the work of Spanish ñ (Sunyer, Canyelles), and ll opens names such as Llull, Llopis and Llobet. The -ch at the end of Bosch, Blanch, Llach and Domènech is an old Catalan spelling of a k sound that surnames have kept. Tx and x appear too, as in Patxot and Xifré.

The stock has four main sources. Landscape and farmstead names are the largest: Puig (hill), Serra (mountain range), Riera (stream), Font (spring), Roca (rock), Mas (farmhouse) and Vila. Trade names follow, such as Ferrer (smith), Fuster (carpenter), Sabater (shoemaker), Teixidor (weaver) and Moliner (miller). Because the final r is silent in much of the language, many of these also exist as Ferré, Sabaté and Teixidó. Then come given names used as surnames, like Martí, Vidal, Bonet and Arnau, and names taken from towns.

The list also covers the forms of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, among them Ferrando, Sanchis, Ferragut, Bibiloni, Sintes and Tur. A few Castilianised spellings in common use, such as Piñol beside Pinyol, are separate entries. People carry two surnames, the first from each parent, and Catalan usage may join them with i (and), as in Puig i Ferrer.

How to choose Catalan last names

• Keep the accents and the dot. Pagès, Solà, Güell and Rul·lan are written with their marks, and a grave or acute accent tells the reader which syllable is stressed and how the vowel sounds.
• For a full Catalan name, give the character two surnames and link them with i if you want a formal or traditional feel: Vidal i Casanovas, Roca i Pons. In everyday use most people go by the first one alone.
• Let the surname hint at a place. Quetglas, Amengual and Mesquida suggest Mallorca, Sintes and Orfila suggest Menorca, Tur and Escandell suggest Ibiza, and Sanchis, Estellés and Calabuig suggest Valencia.
• Pick one spelling per family. Sunyol and Suñol, or Vinyes and Viñas, are the same name written two ways, so relatives in a story should share a form unless the split is part of the plot.
• For a given name to go in front, try our Catalan name generator, which pairs first names such as Jordi and Núria with surnames like these.

Frequently asked questions

What are some common Catalan last names?

Names you will meet again and again include Ferrer, Vila, Serra, Soler, Puig, Martí, Vidal, Roca, Pujol, Font, Costa and Casas. All of them are in this list. We do not print rankings or counts, because published figures change with the source and the area covered.

How do you pronounce Puig, Bosch and Llull?

Puig is roughly pooch, with the final -ig sounding like the ch in match; Roig and Reig end the same way. Bosch is bosk, because the old -ch spelling stands for a k sound. Llull starts and ends with the Catalan ll, close to the lli in million.

How are Catalan surnames different from Spanish ones?

Castilian is known for patronymics ending in -ez, such as Fernández and González, while Catalan leans on places, farmsteads and trades: Puig, Casadevall, Capdevila, Ferrer, Fuster. The spelling differs as well, with ny, final -ig, final -ch and grave accents (Domènech, Pagès) that Castilian does not use. Some surnames, such as Pastor, Costa and Pascual, are shared by both languages.

Does a Catalan surname show where a family comes from?

It can hint at one line of a family and no more. A surname follows a single branch, people have moved between regions for centuries, and many names are found well beyond the area they are linked with. Use the list for characters and ideas, and go to civil and parish records for real family history.

Related generators

All 500 Catalan last names