Spanish Translation

What most often holds up a Spanish document is not the alphabet but the structure of names. Spanish and Latin American records give a person two surnames; the Turkish register recognises one. Until that gap is closed, the procedure does not move.

5 min readLast updated 1 September 2026

Short answer

In Spanish-language documents a person carries both the paternal and the maternal surname. Which one is registered in Türkiye has to be settled at the outset; the translation shows both and marks which is the paternal surname.

Number of surnames: Two: paternal first, then maternal
System in Spain: Traductor jurado, appointed by the ministry
Apostille: Spain and the main Latin American countries are parties
Countries: More than twenty where it is official

Two surnames: the most common sticking point

In most Spanish-speaking countries a person carries two surnames: the father's first surname followed by the mother's first surname. In María García López, García is paternal and López maternal. In everyday use only the first is spoken; on documents both appear.

The Turkish civil register recognises one surname. So a surname that appears in two parts on a Spanish document is either combined or reduced in the Turkish record. Which of the two depends on the institution and the application; what the translation does is mark clearly which part is which.

Name structure compared
Field	In a Spanish document	In the Turkish register
Given name	Nombre (one or two names)	Given name
First surname	Primer apellido (paternal)	Surname
Second surname	Segundo apellido (maternal)	No counterpart
Change on marriage	Usually none	May change

Name structure compared

The traductor jurado system in Spain

Spain has its own institution of sworn translators: the traductor-intérprete jurado. The title is conferred by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a translation by a holder counts as official in Spain. The translator adds their own stamp, signature and a standard certifying formula.

Seen from Türkiye this resembles the German situation: some Spanish institutions accept only a traductor jurado translation, others find an apostilled Turkish translation sufficient. In Latin America the arrangements vary by country: some have sworn translators, others work through notaries.

One language, different terms

Spanish is official in more than twenty countries and administrative terminology changes between them. Asking for a document "in Spanish" is not a complete specification; which country's Spanish has to be stated.

Terms that change by country
Concept	Spain	Mexico	Argentina
Identity document	DNI	INE / CURP	DNI
Tax number	NIF	RFC	CUIT / CUIL
Mobile phone	móvil	celular	celular
Car	coche	carro	auto
Computer	ordenador	computadora	computadora

Terms that change by country

The identity and tax number rows have direct consequences on official documents: treating a Mexican CURP as equivalent to a Spanish DNI is simply wrong. We expand these abbreviations, keep the originals and state what each one is.

Spanish documents and how we render them

Frequently seen documents
Document	What it is	Our approach
Partida de nacimiento	Birth record	Scope varies by country; the register it came from is stated
Libro de familia	Family book (Spain)	Close to a Turkish civil registry extract but not identical
Certificado de antecedentes penales	Criminal record certificate	Differences in scope by country are noted
Título universitario	University degree	The distinction between grado, licenciatura and máster is preserved
Certificado de empadronamiento	Municipal residence registration (Spain)	A municipal record; its function differs from the Turkish equivalent
Fe de vida	Certificate of life	Used in pension procedures

Frequently seen documents

Details that matter on documents

01
ñ and accented letters
Ñ is a separate letter, not a variant of n. Written Munoz, the surname Muñoz becomes a different name. Accents may be dropped in a passport; the translation also shows the original spelling.
02
Date and number format
Spanish-speaking countries use day/month/year order, and the decimal separator is usually a comma, though Mexico and some others use a point. Whichever form appears in the document is preserved.
03
Official register and long sentences
Spanish administrative texts can carry several conditions in one sentence and lean heavily on the passive. Turkish requires breaking those up, and holding the link between conditions while doing so is the real work.
04
Abbreviations
Administrative abbreviations are frequent (S.A., S.L., C.P., Avda.). Company-form abbreviations are not translated; writing them as if a Turkish equivalent existed changes the type of legal entity.

Frequently asked questions

My document has two surnames. Which goes on my Turkish ID?

The institution decides that, not the translator. The translation shows both surnames and marks which is paternal and which maternal, and the civil registry office builds the record from that. If you already hold a Turkish document, send it too and we will keep the translation consistent with it.

Is an apostille enough for a document going to Spain?

Spain is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so the apostille chain is valid. Some Spanish institutions do require the translation to be made by a traductor jurado. Asking the receiving institution avoids paying for a second translation.

Is the process the same for Latin American countries?

The language is, the systems are not. Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile are all parties to the Convention, but their sworn translation practices and document names differ. Tell us which country the document comes from or is going to and we will set the terminology accordingly.

How will the ñ in my surname be written?

The latinised spelling in your passport governs, and there ñ usually appears as n. We show the original spelling in the translation as well, so the difference is not read as an inconsistency by the institution.

Why does the Spanish text come out longer than the Turkish?

Spanish prepositions and articles are carried by suffixes in Turkish, and the official register uses longer formulas. Since pages are counted on the source text, this does not affect your quote.