As Catherine Zeta-Jones said in an interview as noted in IMDB:

After The Mask of Zorro (1998), people spoke Spanish to me for ages. I’m Welsh but that movie instantly gave me a new ethnicity.

Let’s say it’s true in this uchronia that Zeta-Jones accepted this new identity. What would it look like?

Catherine Zeta-Jones

As noted in the interview, Zeta-Jones is not a Spanish name, rather it is a Welsh name, for she is originally from Wales. Her last name Zeta is her grandmother’s name, which she used in her professional career as a way to stand out.

The film that made her a household name was of course The Mask Of Zorro (1998) alongside Antonio Banderas.

Catarina Zitajonez

Ideally, the surname sounds as [zee-tuh-khoh-nehz]. While the phonology would be different in Spanish, the spelling of “Jones” would probably be the same. It turns out that Jones is a Welsh surname meaning “son of John,” while Spanish surnames use -ez as a patronymic case as well. Of course, it seems entirely coincidental, however I don’t think native Spanish speakers would care that much.

It turns out Hispanicization of names is not uncommon among non-Spanish immigrants in Latin America. In the case of Hugo Oconór, his name was made Spanish from his original Irish surname “O’Conner.” He would become a military governor of Northern Mexico when it was still a Spanish colony in the late 18th century.

Sources

  • Catherine Zeta-Jones. IMDB.
  • Ó Fógartaigh, Séamus. “Ireland and Mexico.” Irish Migration Studies in Latin America.
  • (Image Attribution): Popsracer. “Mumbles, Wales.” Wikipedia. 24 August 2003. CC BY-SA 3.0. Changes include placing original image in overlaying image.

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