Learn Gentilic Noun
Gentilics are adjectives that determine the place of origin of people or things.
As adjectives, they have gender (male or female) and number (singular or plural).
The adjectives gentilics are written in lowercase and can be used as nouns to mention a person known by their place of origin, so you can say correctly:
Juan el sevillano sabe mucho de deportes.
María la valenciana hace unas paellas estupendas.
In general, the gentilic derived from the name of the place, but in some cases using the old name. Hhere are some cities and nations that have more than one gentilic. In games, we used the most commonly in masculine singular.
The formation of gentilic from the name of the place presents many cases, both regular and irregular.
In Spanish, the most common regular cases are formed by adding to the name of the place the suffixes: -ano, -és, -ense, -eño, -ino, etc...(more the feminine and plural variants).
Most common examples
castellano, soriano, sevillano.
alavés, gijonés, barcelonés.
ovetense, melillense, almeriense.
extremeño, madrileño, albaceteño.
alicantino, bilbaíno, salmantino.
Below are the names of the 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain. For simplicity in the Tables we will use the masculine singular.
Clicking on each community we will see the gentilics of their Provinces.
Gentilics of the Autonomies of Spain
In the following Tables the Gentilics of Autonomous Cities and Provinces of Spain are shown.
Gentilics of Autonomous Cities
| Autonomous City | Gentilic |
|---|
| Ceuta | ceutí |
| Melilla | melillense |
Gentilics of Provinces
| Andalucia Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Almería | almeriense |
| Cádiz | gaditano |
| Córdoba | cordobés |
| Granada | granadino |
| Huelva | onubense |
| Jaén | jienense |
| Málaga | malagueño |
| Sevilla | sevillano |
| Aragón Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Huesca | oscense |
| Teruel | turolense |
| Zaragoza | zaragozano |
| Asturias Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Asturias | asturiano |
| Baleares Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Baleares | balear |
See the Gentilics of the Islands of the Balearic Archipelago
| Canarias Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife | tinerfeño |
| Las Palmas | palmense |
See the Gentilics of the Islands of the Canarian Archipelago
| Cantabria Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Santander | santanderino |
| Castilla La Mancha Provinces and Gentilics |
| Albacete | albaceteño |
| Ciudad Real | ciudadrealeño |
| Cuenca | conquense |
| Guadalajara | guadalajareño |
| Toledo | toledano |
| Castilla y León Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Ávila | abulense |
| Burgos | burgalés |
| León | leonés |
| Palencia | palentino |
| Salamanca | salmantino |
| Segovia | segoviano |
| Soria | soriano |
| Valladolid | vallisoletano |
| Zamora | zamorano |
| Cataluña Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Barcelona | barcelonés |
| Gerona | gerundense |
| Lérida | leridano |
| Tarragona | tarraconense |
| Extremadura Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Badajoz | pacense |
| Cáceres | cacereño |
| Galicia Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| La Coruña | coruñés |
| Lugo | lucense |
| Orense | orensano |
| Pontevedra | pontevedrés |
| La Rioja Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| La Rioja | riojano |
| Madrid Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Madrid | madrileño |
| Murcia Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Murcia | murciano |
| Navarra Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Navarra | navarro |
| País Vasco Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Álava | alavés |
| Guipúzcoa | guipuzcoano |
| Vizcaya | vizcaino |
| Valencia Provinces and Gentilics |
|---|
| Alicante | alicantino |
| Castellón | castellonense |
| Valencia | valenciano |
The names of the Capitals of Province usually coincide with the name of the Province, so their gentilic is the same, but there are some exceptions.
The following table shows the gentilics of the Capitals whose name does not match that of the Province.
Capitals with a name different from that of the Province and its Gentilics
| Capital (Province) | Gentilic |
|---|
| Vitoria (Álava) | vitoriense |
| San Sebastián (Guipúzcoa) | donostiarra |
| Bilbao (Vizcaya) | bilbaino |
| Pamplona (Navarra) | pamplonés |
| Logroño (La Rioja) | logroñés |
| Santiago de Compostela (Galicia) | compostelano |
| Mérida (Extremadura) | emeritense |
| Oviedo (Asturias) | ovetense |
| Palma de Mallorca (Baleares) | mallorquín |
Below are the Gentilics of the Balearic and Canarian archipelagos.
Gentilics of the Balearic Archipelago
| Island | Gentilic |
|---|
| Mallorca | mallorquín |
| Menorca | menorquín |
| Ibiza | ibicenco |
| Formentera | formenterano |
| Cabrera | caprariense |
Gentilics of the Canarian Archipelago
| Island | Gentilic |
|---|
| Tenerife | tinerfeño |
| La Gomera | gomero |
| La Palma | palmero |
| El Hierro | herreño |
| Gran Canaria | grancanario |
| Fuerteventura | majorero |
| Lanzarote | lanzaroteño |
Below are more irregular gentilics, who in their formation do not follow the general rules.
Irregular Gentilics
| City | Gentilic |
|---|
| Andujar (Jaén) | iliturgitano |
| Aranjuez (Madrid) | arancetano |
| Betanzos (La Coruña) | brigantino |
| Cabra (Córdoba) | egabrense |
| Calahorra (La Rioja) | calagurritano |
| Calatayud (Zaragoza) | bilbilitano |
| Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca) | mirobrigense |
| Elche (Alicante) | ilicitano |
| Martos (Jaén) | tuccitano |
| Morella (Castellón) | bisgargitano |
| Orihuela (Alicante) | orcelitano |
| Ronda (Málaga) | arundense |