Name Santiago - meaning, origin, numerology

Santiago, (also San Iago, San Tiago, Santyago, Sant-Yago, San Thiago) is a Spanish name that derives from the Hebrew name Jacob (Ya'akov) via "Sant Iago", "Sant Yago", "Santo Iago", or "Santo Yago", first used to denote Saint James the Great, the brother of John the Apostle. It was also the tradition that Saint James (Santiago) had traveled to the Iberian Peninsula during his life and was buried there. The name is also complicated in Spanish in that Jaime and Jacobo are modern versions of James. Another variant is Diego, as in San Diego, as a doublet or variation.

Variants of Santiago include the surname Sandiego, and (after removing the "san" particle which means "Saint" in Spanish) Iago (a common Galician language name), Thiago or Tiago (a common Portuguese language name), Diego, and the less common Diago and Diogo. The common name James has many forms in Iberia, including Xacobo or Xacobe (in Galician) and Jaume, Xaume, and Dídac (in Catalan), and Jaime, Jacobo, and Diego (in Spanish). However, despite being a cognate, San Diego does not refer to the same Saint but to Saint Didacus.

San Diego is one of the Hispanicized forms of James, originating from the name Santiago. It is original name of Didacus of Alcalá. The name Didacus did not exist until Diego / Diago was "Latinized". For more information see Diego article.

Diego is a Spanish male name, derived from the Hebrew Yaʿqob (Jacob), the name of Saint James the Great, via Sant Yago, re-analysed as Santiago and San Diego. The assimilation of the final "T" of Sant into the name, a process called sandhi, has also occurred in "Telmo", the Spanish and Portuguese name for Elmo.

Santiago is also the patron saint of Spain, after whom, many cities have been named in Spain itself and throughout its former empire, such as:

• The city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain is dedicated to St. James the Great.
• Santiago de Cuba.
• Santiago de Chile.
• Santiago del Estero, Argentina.
• Santiago de los Caballeros, Guatemala.
• Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

"Santi" is the nickname for Santiago, although "Sandy" is frequently used in English-speaking countries.

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Spanish: name chosen to invoke the protection of St James on a son. Iago is an obsolete Spanish form of James. St James the Greater is the patron saint of Spain; he was one of the twelve disciples of Christ, the brother of John the Baptist, and was martyred under Herod Agrippa. The legend that he visited Spain before his death does not seem to have arisen before the 9th century, but by the 11th century the site of his alleged relics at Compostela in Galicia was a place of pilgrimage from all over Europe. See also Diego.

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