what mean's santander?
It's a word that I've heard...
7 Answers
There is a bank in Mexico called Santander, it's a branch of a big Spanish bank of that name. It's also the name of a city on the northern coast of Spain.
Interesting story behind that name:
Santander is the capital of the autonomous port community of Cantibria which lies along the northern coast of Spain. The name of "Santander" is derived from the name of the patron saint of this city, Saint Emeterius, a Roman soldier and martyr who was beheaded near the end of the third century for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. During the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, Emetrio's skull was brought to the region of present day Santander and kept by a community of monks living in the area. It remains to this day enshrined in a cathedral that was built on the remains of their ancient Abbey.
In regards to etymology, the name Santander stems originally from the Latin Genitive of the name (Santi Emetherii) and proceeds as follows:
Santi Emetherii ? Sancti Emderi ? Sancte Endere ? Santendere ? Santander.
Santander is the capital of the Spanish province of Cantabria.
It is the name of a city and of a company that sponsors sporting events. I don't think it is a Spanish word.
- Wikipedia says "At Santander, Alfonso II of Aragon founded the abbey of Saints Hemeterius and Celedonius, or Santander Abbey, where the heads of those holy martyrs were kept. The toponym "Santander" actually takes its name not from Saint Andrew as some, misled by the sound of the name, believe, but from Saint Emeterius (Santemter, Santenter, Santander), one of the patrons of the city and ancient abbey, the other being Saint Celedonius.[2] The former abbey church is now Santander Cathedral."
In its discussion of Saint Emeterius at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeterius_and_Celedonius.
I bank at this bank and asked the lady there, and she did not know. I knew the romance languages used san for what we use now as Saint, or something like that.
So the story goes that these two soldiers, Saint Hemeterius (Saint Emeterius) and Saint Celedonius were soldiers that were beheaded when they refused to renounce Christ. Their heads floated to the town now known as Saint Hemeterius (Santander).
This history about this place makes my bank all the more appealing to me now.
Blessings,
Charlie Knight
"Sant Ander" sanctum + "andere" moza (vascono), virgine
In other words, Santander is just a name like Smith, Hernández, etc. In Spanish, Santander can be a name of a city, a town, a bank or what ever you want to name out there, BUT, not as a first name for a person. Santander is a "last name" when naming someone. You just inherit a last name from your parents.
