The Spanish duke is ordered to rename his daughter because her name is too long (and doesn’t even fit in this headline!)

Spanish aristocrat Fernando Fitz-James Stuart must shorten his daughter’s name significantly if he wants to have her legally registered.

The 17th Duke of Huéscar, heir to the Duchy of Alba, and his wife Sofía Palazuelo (31) recently named their second child Sofía Fernanda Dolores Cayetana Teresa Ángela de la Cruz Micaela del Santísimo Sacramento del Perpetuo Socorro de la Santísima Los Trinidad y Santos.

The long name, which consists of eleven different names, must be shortened to one compound name (hyphenated name) or two simple names if it is to be accepted by the registration office.

“The name given to the child must be indicated in the registration, whereby no more than one compound name and no more than two simple names may be mentioned,” says the second article of the law on first and last names and their order, collected in the Government Gazette.

The name is said to be a tribute to the late Duchess of Alba, other family members and religious devotions.

The happy couple on their wedding day with (left to right) Monica de Lacalle, the Duke of Alba, the Duchess of Calabria, Juan Carlos Corsini, Matilde Solas and the Duke of Calabria

The couple will have to shorten their daughter’s long three-sentence name if they want it to be included in the registry office.

“For example, the first name, Sofía, was chosen in honor of her mother and grandmother, Sofía Barroso, and the second name, Fernanda, in honor of her father, Duke of Huéscar, and her great-uncle, Fernando Martínez van Irujo, Marquis of San Vicente del Barco,” said Spanish newspaper El País.

The baptism took place on October 7 in the parish of San Román in the historic center of Seville, followed by a meal in the gardens of the Dueñas Palace. The Duke’s first-born daughter was baptized here in 2021.

The christening was attended by many guests, including Matilde Solís, the girls’ grandmother, and Jorge Rojas, a close childhood friend of the Duke of Huéscar. According to El Pais, Sofia also wore the christening dress that her sister and father wore.

The couple tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Fernando Fitz-James Stuart’s family estate in Madrid in 2018.

The Duke is one of eight grandchildren of the late Duchess of Alba, considered Spain’s richest woman.

The late Duchess María del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva was the most titled person in the world according to Guinness World Records.