Basque Surnames

Basque surnames on the whole are easily identifiable, reasonably well documented and follow a small number of set patterns. The vast majority of all Basque surnames are not patronymic (like Johnson in English), or based on personal features (like Brown or Smith) but refer to the family's etxea, the historically all important family home.

When a farm (baserri) was rented to another family, often the new tenants were known locally by the farm name rather than by their officially registered surname.