Santiago

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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 is a modern version of James; and 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 Jaúme, Xaúme, and Diego (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. One should note the name Didacus did exist as a big umbrella 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.

"Santi" is the nickname for Santiago.

Famous people named Santiago

• Santiago Bernabéu, Spanish footballer
• Santiago Botero, Colombian cyclist
• Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect
• Santi Cazorla, Spanish footballer
• Santiago de Murcia, Spanish baroque guitarist and composer
• Santi Freixa, Spanish field hockey player
• Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish histologist and physician
• Santiago de Liniers, French-born defender of Buenos Aires in 1806-1807 and later viceroy.
• Santiago Munez, fictional Mexican character in the Goal movie series
• Santiago Cabrera, a Chilean actor
• Santiago Iglesias, congressman from Puerto Rico
• Santiago Rodriguez, a pianist and professor from Cuba.

• Santiago, main character in Paolo Coelho's novel "The Alchemist"