Using the verb llamarse in Spanish in the present tense to say what someone's name is (Verbo reflexivo)

"To be called" in Spanish: llamarse

In Spanish, when you want to say what your name is, or what someone else's name is, the most common way to express this is by using the reflexive verb "llamarse".

It is a regular -ar verb in El Presente, so this is how it is conjugated:

yo me llamo
te llamas
él / ella / Ud. se llama
nosotros / nosotras nos llamamos
vosotros / vosotras   os llamáis
ellos / ellas / Uds.   se llaman

Here are some examples:

Hola, yo me llamo Carmen.Hi, my name is Carmen.

te llamas Manuela, ¿verdad?Your name is Manuela, isn't it?

Ella se llama Cristina.Her name is Cristina.

Él se llama Pedro.His name is Pedro.

¿Usted se llama Manuel? Is your name Manuel? (you formal singular)

Nosotras nos llamamos Raquel y María.Our names are Raquel and María.

¿Cómo os llamáis vosotros?What are your names? (you informal plural)

Ellos se llaman Carlos y Tomás.Their names are Carlos and Tomás.

Ustedes se llaman Marta y Miguel, ¿verdad?Your names are Marta and Miguel, right? (you formal plural)

We included all the personal subject pronouns (yo, tú, él...) in the examples above to show which pronoun goes with which subject, but you can easily drop them. It will still be correct and it is actually more common to drop them, so "Ella se llama Clara" = "Se llama Clara".

Notice that we used the English translation "my name is, your name is, ..." as this is the most common way to translate it. However, in Spanish we don't tend to use "Mi nombre es..., su nombre es...", we much prefer to use the verb "llamarse"

Llamarse is a reflexive verb, i.e. uses reflexive pronouns placed in front of the verb when it is conjugated, e.g. "me llamo, se llama, os llamáis...". It is as if we are saying "I call myself, she calls herself,  you call yourselves..."

Have a look at the reflexive pronouns:

Pronombres reflexivos English equivalents
me myself
te yourself (singular)
se himself / herself / itself/yourself (formal)
nos ourselves
os yourselves (plural informal)
se  themselves/yourselves (ustedes)

These pronouns cannot be omitted.

This would be incorrect:

Mi madre llama Rosa.

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Examples and resources

Hola, yo me llamo Carmen.Hi, my name is Carmen.
te llamas Manuela, ¿verdad?Your name is Manuela, isn't it?
Ella se llama Cristina.Her name is Cristina.
Él se llama Pedro.His name is Pedro.
Nosotras nos llamamos Raquel y María.Our names are Raquel and María.
¿Cómo os llamáis vosotros?What are your names? (you informal plural)
Ellos se llaman Carlos y Tomás.Their names are Carlos and Tomás.
¿Usted se llama Manuel? Is your name Manuel? (you formal singular)
Ustedes se llaman Marta y Miguel, ¿verdad?Your names are Marta and Miguel, right? (you formal plural)
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