New Book Traces 1,100 Canary Islands Surnames
An updated second edition of Francisco García-Talavera Casañas's book, '1,100 Surnames Rooted in the Canary Islands,' explores the origins and spread of island surnames, connecting them to Caribbean nations.
Ever wondered if your surname has roots in the Canary Islands? A new book, '1,100 Surnames Rooted in the Canary Islands' by Francisco García-Talavera Casañas, offers a chance to find out. It explores the unique identity and diverse heritage of the island people.
This publication delves into the history of the Canary Islands, a place shaped by a rich mix of cultures and people. Over time, groups like the Guanches, Portuguese, Castilians, Normans, and Africans all contributed to the unique Canarian identity, leading to a wide range of surnames.
This updated second edition of the book brings all this history together, now featuring over 80 additional surnames.
During the book's launch last weekend, the Cabildo de Tenerife noted that the author has added new research to this second edition. This updated information helps readers discover where their family surnames came from and how they spread, especially to Caribbean nations in the Americas, a common destination for islanders seeking new homes.
Francisco García-Talavera Casañas, the author, is a geologist-paleontologist who studied at Complutense University of Madrid. He also holds a doctorate in Biology from the University of La Laguna, where he taught from the 1970s to the 1990s. Additionally, he worked at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (Canary Islands Laboratory) and joined many oceanographic trips in the Macaronesian region and off the coast of Africa.
He spent a significant part of his career at the Museum of Natural Sciences of Tenerife (now called the Museum of Nature and Archaeology), where he was director. From this role, he organized and led scientific trips to the Macaronesian islands, southern Morocco, the Sahara, Mauritania, and Senegal. His research has also taken him to places like the Galapagos, Easter, Robinson Crusoe, Saint Helena, and Margarita (Venezuela) islands, and even Antarctica. He is passionate about the history of the Atlantic islands, and much of his work has been dedicated to exploring their origins, cultures, and how they are connected.