22 Galician Baby Names And Their Meaning
According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), at present, some of the most common names chosen by parents for their newborns are Galician names, such as Noa, which means’ tranquility ‘, or Gael, which means’ man endowed with generosity. ‘
But there are many beautiful names of Galician origin, both for girls and boys, that can be a great option to put a future child, especially if one lives in Galicia or is, in some way, linked to that culture. Is it your case? Take note of the list that we present below!
22 Galician baby names and their meaning
In the following lines we present 22 Galician names for babies, divided into two groups: 11 for girls and 11 for boys. Discover the beautiful meaning of each one of them!
Galician names for girls
- Antía : it is one of the most frequent names of Galician origin; its meaning is ‘florida’.
- Carmela : it is the Galician form of Carmen and refers to the ‘orchard’ or ‘garden of God’. Other Galician variants of this name are Carmiña or Carme.
- Catuxa : it is the Galician variant of Catalina which literally means ‘pure’.
- Celtia or Zeltia: it is a typical Galician name whose meaning is ‘of the Celts’.
- Lúa : it is the Galician form of Luna, which refers to ‘the one that shines and shines’.
- Maruxa : it is the hypocoristic in Galician of María, that is, a loving and familiar way of referring to this name.
- Mencía : it is a name of Galician origin that means ‘the indulgent’ or ‘the benign’.
- Olalla : this name commonly used in Galicia means ‘well-spoken’. Another Galician variant of this name Baia.
- Sabela : the equivalent name in Spanish is Isabel and it means ‘place of health’.
- Tareixa : it is the Galician variant of the name Teresa, whose meaning is ‘hunter’.
- Uxía : in Spanish it can be translated as Eugenia and its meaning is ‘well born’ or ‘from a good family’. It is one of the most popular Galician names.
Names of Galician origin for boys
- André : is the Galician variant of Andrés, whose meaning is ‘brave’.
- Anxo : the equivalent name in Spanish is Ángel and it means ‘messenger’.
- Bieito : is the Galician form of Benedict or Benito, which literally means ‘blessed’.
- Breixo : it is a name of Celtic origin that means ‘very true’.
- Estevo : in Spanish it can be translated as Esteban and means ‘crowned’ or ‘victorious’.
- Martiño : is the Galician variant of the name Martín, whose meaning is ‘bellicose warrior’.
- Paio : it is a name of Galician origin that refers to the ‘man of the sea’.
- Roi : this name used more and more frequently in Galicia means ‘glorious’. It is the variant of Rodrigo.
- Tristán : it is a typical Galician name whose meaning is ‘noise’.
- Xián : is the Galician form of Julián and means ‘with strong roots’.
- Xurxo : is the Galician variant of Jorge, whose meaning is ‘peasant’.
Why choose Galician baby names?
Spain is a country with an immense linguistic plurality, which is very enriching on a cultural and social level. However, this was not always like that.
Unfortunately, during the Franco regime, Spanish was considered the only valid language. Which even had an impact on the choice of names for the babies, since all those names that were not in Spanish were strictly prohibited.
Luckily, today Spaniards are free to choose the names they want to give their children, regardless of their language or origin. This is something to value! And one way to do it is to choose Galician names for the babies.
In this way, in addition to claiming the normalization and use of Galician in everyday life, it is committed to names that represent the culture, history and tradition of Galicia.
Likewise, another of the compelling reasons to give newborns names in Galician is that this language is very loud and pleasant to the ear, so their proper names are too.
And you, have you already chosen a name for your baby? Do you dare to choose one of the Galician names that we have just proposed?
