Batlle (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈbaʎːə, ˈbaʎːe]), alternatively spelled Batle (pronounced [ˈbalːe, ˈbalːə]), is a Catalan surname that originally came from the Limousin dialect of Occitan.
Coat of arms described by Enrique Rodríguez Fabregat | |
| Language | Catalan, Occitan, Spanish |
|---|---|
| Other gender | |
| Feminine | Baylina[1] |
| Origin | |
| Language | Latin |
| Word/name | baiulus |
| Meaning | bailiff |
| Region of origin | Limousin |
| Other names | |
| Variant form | Batle |
Etymology
editThe name derives from the Catalan common noun, batlle, which referred to bailiffs in the sense of overseers of bailiwicks and has the same ultimate origin; a more modern analogue would be the role of mayor, though batlles were considered vassal rulers.[2][3][4] This ultimate origin is the Latin term baiulus, someone employed with a degree of responsibility and authority.[2][5] The Latin term entered Old Occitan as baile[6] before becoming bayle in Occitan (remaining baile in Aragonese)[7] and batlle in the Limousin dialect.[8]: viii [9] It is one of a variety of officeholder titles that became widely used as surnames.[9] In their dictionary, César Conto and Emiliano Isaza noted the ending of the surname Batlle is strange in Spanish, into which it has been adopted, due to originating from a Spanish territory with different languages.[8]: xxxv
Coats of arms
editThe traditional coat of arms of the Catalan family from which descended the Uruguayan Batlle family is described by Enrique Rodríguez Fabregat as being a field of red – "violently red like dawn" – and depicting an arm armoured in silver bearing a silver sword with a golden hilt, the sword facing its bearer:[10]: 59 [11] "The arm of this [coat of arms] neither subjugates nor kills. The arm of this [coat of arms] wears armour like Don Quixote's. The sword of this arm has a light like that of Justice."[11]

Another coat of arms, for the Batlle family of Girona, was a field of green with two silver stars at the top and a complex golden cross; the cross potent had two horizontal arms, with its vertical arm providing the upright of the letters A and B.[12] Ignacio Vicente Cascante in his Heráldica General y Fuentes de las Armas de España mentions a Berenguer Batlle whose coat of arms bears green leaves extending out.[13]
People
edit- Uruguayan Batlle family:
- Lorenzo Batlle y Grau, President of Uruguay from 1868 to 1872
- José Batlle y Ordóñez, President of Uruguay from 1903 to 1907 and 1911 to 1915, son of Lorenzo Batlle y Grau
- Matilde Pacheco, wife of José Batlle y Ordóñez and, previously, his cousin Ruperto Michaelsson Batlle
- Lorenzo Batlle Pacheco, Uruguayan politician and son of José Batlle y Ordóñez
- César Batlle Pacheco, Uruguayan politician and son of José Batlle y Ordóñez
- Rafael Batlle Pacheco, Uruguayan journalist and son of José Batlle y Ordóñez
- Luis Batlle Berres, President of Uruguay from 1947 to 1951 and 1955 to 1956, nephew of José Batlle y Ordóñez
- Matilde Ibáñez Tálice, Uruguayan journalist and wife of Luis Batlle Berres
- Jorge Batlle Ibáñez, President of Uruguay from 2000 to 2005, son of Luis Batlle Berres
- Mercedes Menafra, Uruguayan entrepreneur, wife of Jorge Batlle Ibáñez
- Carolina Ache Batlle, Uruguayan politician, Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay since 2020, grand niece of Jorge Batlle Ibáñez
- José Amorín Batlle, Uruguayan politician, Senator since 2010, first cousin once removed of Jorge Batlle Ibáñez
- Dominican descendants of Ulises Francisco Espaillat:
- Aída Mercedes Batlle, Dominican political figure, former First Lady of the Dominican Republic
- Federico Antún Batlle, Dominican politician
- Julio Vega Batlle, Dominican writer
- Aida Batlle, Salvadoran businesswoman
- Alexis Batle, Cuban volleyball player
- Antonio Enrique Lussón Batlle, Cuban soldier and politician
- Armand Batlle, French rugby union footballer
- Eduard Batlle, Spanish scientist
- Enric Marco, Spanish impostor
- Fernando Clavijo Batlle, Spanish politician, President of the Canary Islands since 2023
- Francesc Cambó, Spanish politician
- Jay Batlle, American artist
- José Perdomo, Uruguayan footballer
- Josep Maria Abella Batlle, Spanish bishop
- Juan Batlle Planas, Spanish-Argentine painter
- Manuel Arturo Peña Batlle, Dominican historian, diplomat, politician and lawyer
- Ona Batlle, Spanish footballer
- Ramón Carnicer, Spanish composer and conductor
See also
edit- Laurent Batlles, French footballer
References
edit- ↑ Estadística española Issues 86–89 (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. 1980. p. 118.
- 1 2 ""Batle o Batlle"". Diccionari Català-Valencià-BalearB (in Catalan). Retrieved 2026-03-01.
- ↑ Ramis y Ramis, Juan (1819). Historia civil, y politica de Menorca: Parte I, que empieza en los tiempos mas antiguos, y acaba á principios de la Era Cristiana (in Spanish). Pedro Antoino Serra. p. 8.
- ↑ Caras y caretas (in Spanish). 1903.
- ↑ 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica: Bailiff and Bailie
- ↑ Gibert, Louis-François (1996). Communautés rurales du Moyen Age au XIXe siècle: à travers l'exemple du pays de Berbiguières en Périgord Noir (in French). Editions du Roc de Bourzac. p. 28. ISBN 978-2-87624-095-7.
- ↑ James I (of Aragon); Vinas, Agnès; Vinas, Robert (2007). Le livre des faits de Jaume le Conquérant (in French). Société agricole, scientifique et littéraire des Pyrénées-Orientales. p. 399.
- 1 2 Conto, César; Isaza, Emiliano (1895). Diccionario ortográfico de apellidos y de nombres propios de personas: con un apéndice de nombres geográficos de Colombia (in Spanish). Moffatt & Paige.
- 1 2 Godoy Alcántara, José (1871). Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos (in Spanish). M. Rivadeneyra. p. 167.
- ↑ EL LIBRO DE LOS SIMBOLOS Escudos Y Banderas Del Uruguay Por Ricardo Goldaracena.
- 1 2 Rodríguez Fabregat, Enrique (1942). Batlle y Ordóñez, el reformador (in Spanish). Editorial Claridad. pp. 16–17.
- ↑ Garma y Durán, Francisco Xavier (de) (1753). Adarga catalana: arte heraldica: libro ii: de los ornamentos exteriores de Armería, conque se adorna un Escudo (in Spanish). Mauro Martì. pp. 241, 257.
- ↑ Cascante, Ignacio Vicente (1956). Heraldica General Y Fuentes de Las Armas de Espana (in Spanish). Salvat. pp. 276–277.