+502 5735 4638 |antiguenaschool@gmail.comantiguenaschool@gmail.com

Nicknames for Personal Names in Latin-american Culture

Posted on Jun 08, 2020 | guatemala culture, learn spanish

Nicknames or "apodos" in Latin America and Guatemala are very common, they are regularly associated with a personal characteristic. But many these nicknames in Spanish language are specifically related to the personal name.

If you are wondering why there are so many nicknames in Guatemala and Latin America. Well, it is simply a cultural custom actually. This really happens anywhere in the world, some countries or cultures have it more than others, but in Latin America it is very very common. A nickname is generally given to a person due to a particular characteristic, be it a physical characteristic, their personality, or some quality or ability that one might have.

But there are also nicknames on personal names (just like it is in many other cultures), these are not like the traditional nicknames we all know, these are directly related to your personal name ... and there really are not too many. They only exist for the names that are best known and given in Latin America.

You should note that since it is a cultural custom of Spanish-speaking countries, these are usually applied to a person to show your appreciation, so that if you just meet someone named Elisa, it would look strange to call her Lisa immediately.

Below we share a list of 24 names and nicknames. We may have missed one, but these are the most popular one.

Click on each image to enlarge.