García

García or Garcia may refer to:

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García (surname)

Garcia or García is a Basque origin surname common throughout Spain, Portugal, parts of France, the Americas, and the Philippines.

It is attested since the high Middle Ages north and south of the Pyrenees (Basque Culture Territories), with the surname (sometimes first name too) thriving especially on the Kingdom of Navarre and spreading out to Castile and other Spanish regions.

Ramón Menéndez Pidal and Antonio Tovar believed it to derive from the Basque word (H)artz, meaning "(the) Bear". Alfonso Irigoyen suggests it may come from a Basque adjective garze(a) meaning "young", whose modern form is gaztea or gaztia. A third etymology suggests it may derive from the Basque words "Gazte Hartz", meaning "(the) young bear". Variant forms of the name include Garcicea, Gartzi, Gartzia, Gartze, Garsea, and Gastea.

There are Gasconic cognates of Garcia like Gassie and Gassion (Béarn, Gassio 14th century, real name of Edith Piaf, born Edith Gassion).

It is a surname of patronymic origin; García was a very common first name in early medieval Spain. García is the most common surname in Spain (where 3.32% of population is named García) and also the second most common surname in Cuba. It has become common in the United States due to substantial Latin American immigration, and is now the 8th most common surname in the U.S.

García Ramírez (bishop)

García Ramírez (died 17 July 1086) was an Aragonese prelate and infante. He served as the bishop of Jaca, then the only diocese in Aragon, from 1076 until his death. He temporarily served as the bishop of Pamplona, the principal diocese of neighbouring Navarre, from 1078 until 1082. He was a younger son of King Ramiro I of Aragon and brother of King Sancho. He had good relations with King Alfonso VI of León and Pope Gregory VII, both of whom took his side when he was involved in a dispute with his brother.

García was illiterate, and his assumption of episcopal office had more to do with high politics than religion. The diocese of Aragon was an itinerant see, with its de facto seat at the monastery of San Adrián de Sasave, prior to the election of García. In 1074, Bishop Sancho traveled to Rome to seek a papal dispensation to retire, citing physical infirmity. Given that he had personally undertaken the long journey to Rome, it is most likely that his removal was sought by the king for political reasons. By October 1076, García was bishop with his seat at Jaca, which had been the main seat of the rulers of Aragon for centuries. Within a year, a new cathedral in the Romanesque style was under construction.