Comments (Meaning / History Only)

It is hard to sustain the suggestion that Diego is a variant of Iago when you realise that there was a Diego in the middle 900s.
However, regarding Diego and Didacus (the Latinised version) it is hard to say which came first - and hence just what Diego might mean. [It is highly unlikely that a poor man would give his son the name Didacus...] So the simple and unqualified assertion that Diego comes from Iago on the "front" page here is unhelpful.
Hello my name is Diego Cletis Ralph Cavazos. I'm Italian American and the reason I was named Diego was because my mom in 1971 in California, where I was born, wanted to keep my Italian roots. My great grandfather was a sailor from Spain where his parents migrated from Italy- Jose Nesiso Cabbos my last name got changed to cover the thefts of the land king ranch in south Texas where it was a a gift to my great grandfather from Spain. That king stole and forged the buying of the land signing as Cavazos the English way of saying it. But again Diego because I'm Italian that's why my mom came with that name in 1971 I was the first in Texas and the USA to have that name. I'm 47 today, my son Diego jr is 14, wondering where it's from, Italy and Greek after old gods. Go deeper, Santiago has nothing to do with the name Diego nor did it come from there.
I believe that Diego is not related to Santiago, the Spanish form for James. I think it's a different name derived from the Latin "Didacus" that means "educated". That's my opinion.
Santiago, being obvious derivation to Diego, itself derives from Sant Jago. Jago then morphed to James in English. So though not necessarily stemming directly from James, the relationship is much stronger than your far flung Greek theory. Reminds me of the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Please update. This is my son's name and I love it.
Spanish: from the personal name Diego, which is of uncertain derivation. It was early taken to be a reduced form of Santiago, and is commonly taken by English speakers as being a form of James, but this is no more than folk etymology. It is found in the Middle Ages in the Latin forms Didacus and Didagus, which Meyer-Lübke derived from Greek didakhe ‘doctrine’, ‘teaching’, but in view of the fact that it is unknown outside the Iberian Peninsula it may possibly have a pre-Roman origin.
Diego (new Spanish) is from the name Tiago (old Spanish). The San from Santiago just means saint and Diego is the Spanish for James.
Didacus was named that AFTER his death and beatification. Didacus was never a name before a Latin name was invented for him. Didacus doesn't exist in any other Romance name. Here is how the Latin name for St. James became Diego in Spanish or Tiago in Portuguese.
Sanctus Jacobus
Santo Iago (K-sound often became a G-sound)
Santiago.
THEN we lose the SAN because in modern Spanish the title Saint for males became San (see San Francisco, San Antonio)
Tiago (still a name in Portuguese)
Diago
Diego, Diego.Please let's kill this Didacus myth.
Diego is the Spanish form of David.
Diego is not Spanish for David. David in Spanish is simply David just pronounced DAA VEED instead of DAVE ID. Diego is from the name James.
I thought it was the Spanish form of James. Saw on another site that it was James. Looking at the 'related names' section it makes more sense than David. Can seen where you are coming from though. I could be right, then again I could be wrong.
Could it be the Spanish form of Jacob, as I saw on a site about surnames that Michael Jackson was translated as Miguel Diaz and Diaz is "son of Diego".

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