Sáënz is a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 surname

Family name

A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...

 originating in The Kingdom of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in the Castile

Castile (historical region)

A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

 region, now known as La Rioja

La Rioja (Spain)

La Rioja is an autonomous community and a province of northern Spain. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and Nájera.-History:...

 derived from its unknown original Semitic (Hebrew) surname.

Spelling variations of this family name include: Saens, Saenz, Sans, Sanx, Sanz, Sainz, Saiz, Saez, and many more. [2]

History

Created by Sephardic Jews

Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...

 (Semitic families) who immigrated into the region, some via the Way of St. James

Way of St. James

The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried....

, due to religious conflicts in their native lands using this name as a way of assimilating into their new country of settlement.

Integrating with Spain's native people, the name became common in this territory. Later in 1478, due to the Alhambra Decree

Alhambra decree

The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...

, many Saenz family members that retained forms of Judaic faiths were forced to migrate to new lands.

Several Spanish Jews living in Spain, so-called Converso

Converso

A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...

s or Marrano

Marrano

Marranos were Jews living in the Iberian peninsula who converted to Christianity rather than be expelled but continued to observe rabbinic Judaism in secret...

s, changed their faith to Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

 to avoid Catholic persecution for having their original faith be Judaism. These Jews were forced to adopt Spanish names to live in Spain after conversion, using Spanish names to "prove" to authorities that their conversion was "true" (see Religious conversion

Religious conversion

Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...

).

This was common place in dark-age times, both in Spain and Portugal, where Jews adopted tree names in Portuguese, like "Oliveira" ( olive tree ), "Pereira" ( pear tree ), "Salgueiro" ( willow tree), "Figueira" ( fig tree ), etc. In Portugal, these Jews were called "Cristãos-Novos" ( new Christians ). The Saenz coat of arms denotes a tree in line with this Jewish aspect, as well as two similar fruits on either side of the tree and opposing lions on the latter half of the shield, depicting duality involved in the root of the name.

Due to the Law of the Pure Blood

Limpieza de sangre

Limpieza de sangre , Limpeza de sangue or Neteja de sang , meaning "cleanliness of blood", played an important role in modern Iberian history....

some families hid their previous Jewish background from outsiders but practiced the traditions in secret through the generations. Some of this was done by conversing with close family members in the Judaeo-Spanish

Judaeo-Spanish

Judaeo-Spanish , in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish...

 language, lighting candles

Shabbat candles

Shabbat candles are candles lit on Friday nights, 18 minutes before sunset, to usher in the Jewish Sabbath.Lighting Shabbat candles is a rabbinically mandated law. Candlelighting is traditionally done by the woman of the household, but in the absence of a woman, it may be done by man...

 on Friday evenings, and eating only kosher

Kashrut

Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...

 foods such as Pan de Semita

Flatbread

A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....

. Over time the purpose of these traditions were lost but were still carried on due to being thought of as family tradition in itself.

During the Spanish conquest of Mexico several Saenz members migrated over to New Spain, which later became Mexico and the United States of America. This was genetically proven when Bennett Greenspan, the President of Family Tree DNA Inc., had this to say regarding a DNA research project on Mexican families:
Not all Saenz families, however, are from Jewish origin. There are some who bear the surname Saenz that are purely European or of Arab (middle-eastern) origin taken on by a small percentage of Islamic Arabs during the "Way of St. James" era, after the period known as the "Golden Age of Islam

Islamic Golden Age

During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...

".

Being a widespread family name in Spain and Basque, not all Saenz families are related to each other today.

Today

Today a large number of Saenz families still reside in Spain, France and throughout Europe. The largest population of Saenz's in the world currently reside in Basque Country.

The United States also has relatively large Saenz populations. This is because many Spaniards migrated to and settled in the New Spain territories. Some time later, many Saenz families left the New Spain region during and after a Mexican revolt against the wealthy New Spaniards. With a high percentage of Saenz eventually moving farther North and throughout The Americas (Texas and California primarily).
).

(NOTE: While some non-Saenz family members with the Sanchez

Sánchez

Sánchez is a popular Spanish surname. It may also refer to:*Sánchez, Dominican Republic, a municipality in Samaná Province, Dominican Republic*Sanchez , a reggae singer...

 surname claim that Saenz is an original derivation of Sanchez, it is untrue and cannot be proven by historical record, DNA or other scientific data. "Sanchez", is not a Semitic or Jewish name but rather, an original - unrelated, Latin surname and is itself derived from the Latin Santxo.)

External links

• de Santamaria - Wine company depicting the Sáenz surname based in La Rioja, the historic Saenz land of origin (see History of Rioja wine
  History of Rioja wine
  The history of Rioja wine reflects a long and varied winemaking tradition in the Spanish region of La Rioja, starting with the first Phoenician settlers in 11th century BC. As with many of Europe's most well known wine regions, the Ancient Romans founded many of the Rioja vineyards. Throughout the...
  
  )
• History of Los Saenz, Texas - Brief overview of the history of Roma-Los Saenz, Texas
• Jewish families in Mexico - Life history of many Spanish families who practiced the Jewish faith while living in Mexico