What Was Pablo Picasso's Full Name?
Pablo Picasso's full name was about 23 words long: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. It strings together a line of saints and relatives, and the world remembers only the very last word of it.
Even stranger, the name everyone knows him by was his mother's, not his father's.
Here is the whole name, and the story packed inside it.
The name in full
Length: around 23 words.
Made of: saints' names and family godparents.
Tradition: Spanish Catholic naming.
He signed: just Picasso.
That name was: his mother's, not his father's.
The full name, in full
Here it is, every word: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.
Read it aloud and you can hear the whole christening: a string of holy names and honored relatives, the kind of long baptismal name common in Catholic Spain at the time.
Why it runs so long
In Andalusia, where Picasso was born, a child was often named for a chain of saints and godparents, each one adding another piece.
So the length is not a quirk of his family alone. It is tradition, layered name upon name to bless the newborn. Where he came from is here: where Pablo Picasso was born.
Why he dropped his father's name
In Spain a person carries both parents' surnames: his father was Ruiz, his mother Picasso, so the boy was born Ruiz y Picasso.
As a young artist he signed P. Ruiz Picasso, then simply Picasso. The maternal name was rarer and more distinctive than the common Ruiz, and it set him apart from his father, who was also a painter. He chose the name that would sell.
A name that became a brand
That single chosen word turned into one of the most valuable names in the history of art.
Say Picasso and the whole world pictures genius, or an expensive painting. Not bad for the last word of a 23 word name. More oddities about him are here: interesting facts about Pablo Picasso.
FAQ about Picasso's full name
What was Picasso's full name? Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso.
Why was it so long? Spanish Catholic tradition of honoring saints and relatives.
Why did he sign Picasso? It was his mother's surname, rarer than his father's Ruiz.
How many words is it? Around 23.
Was Picasso his real name? Yes, his mother's family name.
The one word he kept
Picasso was born with two dozen names honoring saints and grandparents.
He made the whole world remember just one of them, and it was not even his father's. The full life behind the name is in Pablo Picasso: The Complete Story.
What the museums skip over: How Picasso destroyed the six women who loved him