| Berriz | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | Spain Basque Country#Spain |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Berriz within the Basque Country##Location of Berriz within Spain |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Spain |
| Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous community |
| Subdivision Name1: | Basque Country |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Biscay |
| Subdivision Type3: | Comarca |
| Subdivision Name3: | Durangaldea |
| Coordinates: | 43.1758°N -2.5756°W |
| Elevation M: | 192 |
| Area Total Km2: | 30.07 |
| Population Demonym: | Berritzarra |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | CET |
| Utc Offset: | +1 |
| Timezone Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 48240 |
| Area Code Type: | Dialing code |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Jose Jabier Azpitarte Ariño |
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.
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.[1] 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".