Jiménez (surname)


Jiménez is a surname of Iberian origin, first appearing in the Basque lands.
Jiménez is a patronymic construction from the modern-styled given name Jimeno, plus the Spanish suffix -ez, meaning "son ". The root appears to stem from Basque semen, attested in the Aquitanian inscriptions as Sembeconnis and like forms. Variants of the surname include the archaic Ximénez, Ximenes, as well as Giménez, Gimenes, Jimenes, Chiménez, Chimenes, Seménez, Semenes and the Sicilian Scimemi or Scimeni.
In Spanish orthography, the variations of Jiménez that end with a z are written with an acute accent on the second syllable. In English, all variations are commonly written without the diacritic.
In Portuguese orthography, there is no diacritic used for Ximenes.

Spelling

As the modern name Ximenes has an -es suffix, it is almost certainly of Portuguese, Galician or Old Spanish origin, as the orthographic change to -ez was revised in Spain only in the late 18th century. This obviously was not the case in Portugal.
Other languages in Castilian-dominated lands like Aragon, Asturias, Galicia, etc. often retained the -es ending, and their descendants bear witness to this historical anomaly. In Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearics, the ending -is is used instead of -es, hence, the spelling Ximenis.
Ximenes, as such, exists most commonly in Portugal, and in all of the ex-Portuguese Crown territories, especially in Brazil. Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Nobel Laureate from East Timor in 1996, and Brazilian actress, Mariana Ximenes, are prime examples of this historical difference.

Notable people

; Jimenes
; Jiménez or Jimenez
; Ximenes
; Ximénez or Ximenez
; Eiximenis
The Jiménez dynasty in 905 became kings of Pamplona, eventually expanding control to most of Christian Spain.