Berriz
Berriz (in Basque and officially, in Spanish: "Bérriz") is an elizate, town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Berriz is part of the "comarca" of Durangaldea and has a population of 4.623 inhabitants as of 2019 and according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute. Toponymy. "Berriz" belongs to a series of Basque toponyms with an "-iz" ending. Julio Caro Baroja defended that most of these toponyms came from an original Basque toponym plus the Latin suffix "-icus". Caro Baroja considered that on toponymy, the suffixes "-oz", "-ez" and "-iz" used to  be combined with the name of the owner of the lands, with its origin being in some place between the Middle Ages and the Roman Empire. In the case of "Berriz", Caro Baroja suggested that the name might come from "Verrius", the documented Latin name. Then, to the name "Verrius" it was added the suffix "-icus" (indicating that the lands were owned by Verrius) and became "Verricus". From then, the name evolved to "Verrici" and from there to "Verriz". The name of the town in Spanish used to be "Vérriz". Another theory about is origin negates the Latin origin and  proposes a Basque origin. "Berriz" might come from "Be(h)e" ("under") and "Oiz" in reference to the Oiz mountain, and then "under Oiz" as of "in the or at the bottom of Oiz". External links.