Paco – Pepe: where do they come from? Posted by Magda on Dec 13, 2012 in Learning, Spanish Culture
En español existen multitud de diminutivos de nombres, pero posiblemente los dos más conocidos para hombre sean los de Francisco y José. A los Franciscos se les suele llamar en confianza Pacos, y los Josés responden en familia al nombre de Pepe. Y si el caballero se llama Francisco José, no será raro que alguien lo llame Paco Pepe. No sé si será por curiosidad o aburrimiento, pero a veces me da por averiguar de donde vienen ciertas expresiones, y esto es lo que he encontrado para estos seudónimos.
El primero de ellos, Paco, parece deber su origen a San Francisco de Asís, fundador de la orden de los Franciscanos, que era conocido como PAter COmunitates, o padre de la comunidad.
El origen del segundo es algo más conocido. Como todos sabemos, José era el padre adoptivo de Jesús, o lo que es lo mismo, “Pater Putatibus”. Se cuenta que al leer las escrituras en los conventos, al mencionar a José también se incluía esa referencia de pater putatibus. Si nos quedamos tan solo con las primeras letras de cada palabra para abreviar, tendremos el tan conocido Pepe.
Curioso, ¿verdad?
In Spanish there are a lot of diminutives of names, but probably two of the most well known for men are those of Francisco and Jose. To Franciscos we usually call Pacos informally, and Josés answer to the name of Pepe when they are in family. And if the man is named Francisco Jose, it will not be strange for anybody to call him Paco Pepe. I don’t know if it is because of curiosity or boredom, but I try sometimes to guess from where certain expressions come, and this is what I have found for these pseudonyms.
The first one, Paco, seems to have its origin in San Francisco de Asís, founder of the order of the Franciscans, who was known as PAter COmunitates, or father of the community.
The origin of the second one is slightly more known. We all know that Jose was the adoptive father of Jesus, or what is the same, “Pater Putatibus”. It is said that when reading the Scriptures in the convents, when mentioning Jose, this reference as pater putatibus was also included. If we keep only the first letters of each word to shorten them, we will have Pepe.
Funny, isn´t it?
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About the Author: Magda
Hi all! I’m Magda, a Spanish native speaker writing the culture posts in the Transparent Language Spanish blog. I have a Bachelor’s in English Philology and a Master’s in Linguistics and Literature from the University of Granada, in Spain. I have also completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and then worked as an English teacher in several schools and academies for several years. Last year was my first at university level. In addition, I work as a private tutor, teaching English and Spanish as a foreign language to students and adults. In my free time, I’m an avid reader and writer, editing and collaborating in several literary blogs. I have published my first poetry book recently. And last but not least, I love photography!