On the 27th of October 2017 Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, officially declared Catalonia an independent sovereign state, seceding from Spain.

The literal meaning of the President's full name, Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó, is free man descendant of one who lived at the mountain peak and descendant of a head of a household.

Carles is a Catalan variant of the original German, Karl, a name which spread through Continental Europe in many variations due to reverence for Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne (Charles the Great). Unlike Mr. Puigdemont who seeks to create a smaller political unit, Charlemagne reunited much of the Western Roman Empire. His father's surname is Catalan and rather than being a surname taken by someone who lived on a mountain peak, was likely taken from a house named Puig de Mont or in view of a mountain peak, such as Puig de Mont-roig in Catalonia. While his mother's surname, Casamajó, appears to be a Catalanisation of a Southern French surname, Cazemajou, common in the departments adjoining Catalonia.

• Carles¹
• Puigdemont - mountain peak²
• i - and²
• Casamajó - head of household, probably from the French, cazemajou²

References

1. Hanks, Patrick et. al. A Dictionary of First Names (2006)
2. Forebears.io