 Ernesto Guevara was born to Ernesto Guevara Lynch and his wife , Celia de la Serna y Llosa , on June 14 , 1928 in Rosario , Argentina , the eldest of five children in an aristocratic Argentine family of Spanish ( including Basque and Cantabrian ) and Irish descent . In accordance with the flexibility allowed in Spanish naming customs , his legal name ( Ernesto Guevara ) will sometimes appear with " de la Serna " and / or " Lynch " accompanying it . Referring to Che 's " restless " nature , his father declared " the first thing to note is that in my son 's veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels " . 
