The Spanish Duke is ordered to rename his daughter because her name is too long (and it doesn’t even fit in this headline!)
- The name must be significantly shortened before it can be legally registered
- It is said to be a tribute to the late Duchess of Alba, other family and religious devotions
- The baptism took place on October 7 in the San Román parish in Seville, Spain
Spanish aristocrat Fernando Fitz-James Stuart will have to shorten his daughter’s name significantly if he wants to have her legally registered.
The 17th Duke of Huéscar, heir to the Duchy of Alba, and his wife Sofía Palazuelo, 31, recently baptized their second child Sofía Fernanda Dolores Cayetana Teresa Ángela de la Cruz Micaela del Santísimo Sacramento del Perpetuo Socorro de la Santísima Trinidad y de Todos Los Santos .
The long-winded name, which consists of eleven different names, will have to be shortened to one compound name (name with a hyphen) or two simple names if it wants to be accepted by the Civil Registry.
“The registration shall indicate the name given to the child, although no more than one compound name and no more than two simple names may be stated,” according to the second article of the law on names and surnames and their order, collected in the Official Government Gazette.
The name is said to be a tribute to the late Duchess of Alba, other members of the family and religious devotions.
Duke of Huéscar Fernando Fitz-James Stuart (right) with wife Sofía Palazuelo, Duke of Alba Carlos Fitz-James Stuart and his two daughters at the baptism in Seville on October 7
The happy couple on their wedding day with (from left to right) Monica de Lacalle, the Duke of Alba, the Duchess of Calabria, Juan Carlos Corsini, Matilde Solas and the Duke of Calabria
The couple will have to shorten their daughter’s long-winded name, which takes up three sentences, if it wants to be accepted by the Civil Registry.
‘For example, the first name, Sofía, was chosen in honor of her mother and grandmother, Sofía Barroso, and the second, Fernanda, in tribute to her father, Duke of Huéscar, and to her great-uncle, Fernando Martínez of Irujo, Marquis of San Vicente del Barco,” said the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
The baptism took place on October 7 in the parish of San Román in the historic center of Seville, followed by a dinner in the gardens of the Dueñas Palace. The duke’s first-born daughter was also baptized here in 2021.
Many guests attended the baptism, including Matilde Solís, the girls’ grandmother, and Jorge Rojas, a close childhood friend of the Duke of Huéscar. According to El Pais, Sofia also wore the baptismal skirt that her sister and father used.
The couple tied the knot in 2018 in a lavish ceremony at Fernando Fitz-James Stuart’s family estate in Madrid.
The duke is one of eight grandchildren of the late Duchess of Alba, known as Spain’s richest woman.
The late Duchess, María del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva, was the person with the most titles in the world, according to the Guinness World Records.