Understanding Dates & Numbers in Spanish Records

Spanish-English Translations

• Days of The Week in Spanish
• Months of the Year in Spanish
• Numbers in Spanish

Dates are usually written out in Spanish records. A los veinte y dos día de enero del año de nuestro Señor de mil ochocientos y cincuenta y ocho. [ On the twenty-two day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred fifty eight. ]

For this reason, an understanding of basic terms associated with dates and numbers will be extremely helpful when tracing your ancestors in Spanish records. The lists on this are designed to help with comprehension of dates as they are recorded in genealogical sources.

For a sample translation of a document in which the understanding of dates was imperative, see the [ baptismal record of Jose Daniel Alfrido ], my second great-grandfather. The [ scanned image of the original document ] can be also viewed. Use the BACK option on your browser to return to this page.

DATES: DAYS OF THE WEEK & MONTHS OF THE YEAR

In Spanish-speaking countries, a few general rules apply:

• The week begins on Monday.
• Days of the week are NOT capitalized.
• Names of the months are NOT capitalized.
• Cardinal numbers are almost always used for the days of the month.

Although English uses ordinal numbers, such as the tenth of July or July 10th, in Spanish the cardinal numbers are almost always used for the days of the month; for example, el diez de julio (the ten of July). The one exception is the first of the month, for which the ordinal number primero (1ero) is almost always used instead of the cardinal number uno.

Refer to the following lists to translate terms referring to dates.  

LOS NÚMEROS ~ CARDINAL AND ORDINAL NUMBERS IN SPANISH

The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3, etc.) and the ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) versions of each number.

In actual usage, days of the month are almost never written in ordinal form. (Refer to above section.) Ordinal numbers end in o or a depending on the gender of the thing described. Ordinal numbers above 31 are rarely seen in genealogical sources.

Numbers such as 16, 22, and 31 are compound numbers joined by y (and). Such numbers translate literally as ten and seven (17) or thirty and one (31), but in common usage they are always read as they would be in English, e.g. seventeen or thirty-one. In modern Spanish, these numbers can also be written as a single word, for example:

You probably will not encounter the above contracted forms in the records of your ancestors.

Dates: Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers in Spanish

Cardinal		Ordinal
1	un, uno, una	1st	primero (a)
2	dos	2nd	segundo
3	tres	3rd	tercero
4	cuatro	4th	cuarto
5	cinco	5th	quinto
6	seis	6th	sexto
7	siete	7th	séptimo
8	ocho	8th	octavo
9	nueve	9th	nono, noveno
10	diez	10th	décimo
11	once	11th	undécimo, décimoprimero
12	doce	12th	duodécimo, décimosegundo
13	trece	13th	décimotercero
14	catorce	14th	décimocuarto
15	quince	15th	décimoquinto
16	diez y seis, dieciseis	16th	décimosexto
17	diez y siete, diecisiete	17th	décimo séptimo
18	diez y ocho, dieciocho	18th	décimoctavo
19	diez y nueve, diecinueve	19th	décimonono
20	veinte	20th	vigésimo
21	veinte y uno, veintiuno	21st	vigésimo primero
22	veinte y dos, veintidos	22nd	vigésimo segundo
23	veinte y tres, veintitres	23rd	vigésimo tercero
24	veinte y cuatro, veinticuatro	24th	vigésimo cuarto
25	veinte y cinco, veinticinco	25th	vigésimo quinto
26	veinte y seis, veintiseis	26th	vigésimo sexto
27	veinte y siete, veintisiete	27th	vigésimo séptimo
28	veinte y ocho, veintiocho	28th	vigésimo octavo
29	veinte y nueve, veintinueve	29th	vigésimo nono
30	treinta	30th	trigésimo
31	treinta y uno	31st	trigésimo primero
40	cuarenta	40th	cuadragésimo
50	cincuenta	50th	quincuagésimo
60	sesenta	60th	sexagésimo
70	setenta	70th	septuagésimo
80	ochenta	80th	octogésimo
90	noventa	90th	nonagésimo
100	ciento	100th	centésimo
101	ciento uno	101st	centésimo primero
200	doscientos	200th	ducentésimo
300	trescientos	300th	tricentésimo
400	cuatrocientos	400th	cuadringéntesimo
500	quinientos	500th	quingentésimo
600	seiscientos	600th	sexcentésimo
700	setecientos	700th	septingentésimo
800	ochocientos	800th	octingentésimo
900	novecientos	900th	noningentésimo
1000	mil	1000th	milésimo

 

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