1000 Most Common Last Names in Bolivia

Spanish: from the plural of flor ‘flower’.

Aymara (or possibly also Quechua): Castilianized variant of Qhispi, most probably a nickname from Aymara qhispi ‘glass’, ‘precious stone’ (or from Quechua qhispi umiña ‘diamond’). This name is mainly found in Bolivia and Peru.

Spanish and Portuguese: habitational name from Vargas in Santander province, or a topographic name from vargas, plural of varga, a dialect term used in various senses: ‘(thatched) hut’, ‘steep slope’, or ‘fenced pastureland which becomes waterlogged in winter’.

The last name 'Condori' begins from the time of the conquest by the Spaniards in America. Started from the arrival of a Spanish nobleman who travelled to South America and settled in Bolivia, where he married an Inca princess and started a family.

Spanish (Rodríguez) and Portuguese: patronymic from the personal name Rodrigo.

Spanish: habitational name from places in Burgos or Lugo (Galicia) named Rojas, from a derivative of rojo ‘red’.

Spanish (Gutiérrez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Gutierre, from a Visigothic personal name of uncertain form and meaning, perhaps a compound of the elements gunþi ‘battle’ + hairus ‘sword’.

Spanish (López): patronymic from the medieval personal name Lope (from Latin lupus ‘wolf’). This is one of the commonest of all Spanish surnames.

Spanish (Fernández): patronymic from the personal name Fernando. The surname (and to a lesser extent the variant Hernandez) has also been established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.

Variant of Spanish González (see Gonzalez).

Spanish (García) and Portuguese: from a medieval personal name of uncertain origin. It is normally found in medieval records in the Latin form Garsea, and may well be of pre-Roman origin, perhaps akin to Basque (h)artz ‘bear’.

Spanish and Portuguese: from a common and widespread religious Christian personal name from cruz ‘cross’ (Latin crux), or a habitational name from any of numerous places named Cruz or La Cruz, from this word.

Spanish (Pérez) and Jewish (Sephardic): patronymic from the personal name Pedro, Spanish equivalent of Peter. Jewish: variant of Peretz.

Basque: habitational name from several places in the provinces of Arava and Biscay called Mendoza, named with Basque mendi ‘mountain’ + otz ‘cold’ + the definite article -a.

Spanish (Sánchez): patronymic from the personal name Sancho.

Spanish (Martínez): patronymic from the personal name Martin.

Spanish (Chávez): variant spelling of Chaves.

Portugese and Spanish: habitational name from any of the towns called Ramos, in Portugal and Spain. Portuguese and Spanish: from the plural of ramo ‘branch’ (Latin ramus), a topographic name for someone who lived in a thickly wooded area.

Spanish and Portuguese: from vaca ‘cow’ (Latin vacca), probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a cowherd or as a nickname. Czech: pet form of the personal name Václav (see Vacek).

Spanish (Tórrez): variant of Torres.

Spanish (Guzmán): of uncertain and disputed etymology, probably from a Germanic personal name. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Gusman.

Spanish (Suárez): occupational name for a swineherd, Latin Suerius. Compare Portuguese Soares.

Spanish, Catalan, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of numerous places called Aguilar, from Latin aquilare ‘haunt of eagles’ (a derivative of aquila ‘eagle’), for example Aguilar de Campo in Palencia, Aguilar de la Frontera in Córdoba, and Aguilar de Segarra in Catalonia.

Spanish: from the personal name, Justiniano, Latin Justinianus, a derivative of Justinius, from justus ‘just’, ‘fair’.

Spanish: nickname from romero ‘pilgrim’, originally ‘pilgrim to Rome’ (see Romeo).

Spanish (Cuéllar): habitational name from a place called Cuéllar in Segovia province, or from minor places so named in the provinces of Soria and Salamanca.

Spanish (Ramírez): patronymic from the personal name Ramiro, composed of the Germanic elements ragin ‘counsel’ + mari, meri ‘fame’.

Galician and possibly also Spanish: patronymic from the personal name Vasco, reduced form of Spanish Velásquez (see Velasquez).

Spanish: variant of Solís (see Solis).

Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of numerous places in Spain and Portugal called Miranda. The derivation of the place name is uncertain; it may be of pre-Roman origin, or from Latin miranda ‘view’, ‘outlook’. This name is also found in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists.

Spanish: topographic name from the plural of moral ‘mulberry tree’.

Spanish (Álvarez): from a patronymic form of the personal name Álvaro (see Alvaro).

Spanish: patronymic from the Basque personal name Orti (Latin Fortunius).

South American spelling of Spanish Espinosa; the spelling with -z- represents a voiced pronunciation heard in some Latin-American countries, whereas in Castilian Spanish it now has an unvoiced -s-.

Spanish or Portuguese: unexplained. Compare Villarruel.

Galician, Portuguese, Italian, and Jewish (Sephardic): topographic name from castro ‘castle’, ‘fortress’ (Latin castrum ‘fort’, ‘Roman walled city’): in Galicia and also in northern Portugal a habitational name from any of various places named with this word; in Italy either a topographic name or a habitational name.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived in an alley, Spanish calle (from Latin callis). French: variant of Calé (see Cale).

Spanish (Durán) and Catalan: from the personal name Durand (see Durant, Durante). English: variant of Durant. Polish: from a derivative of Dura. Czech: from a derivative of Dura.

Galician (Méndez): patronymic from the personal name Mendo (see Mendes, of which this is the Galician equivalent).

Spanish (Jiménez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Jimeno, which is of pre-Roman origin.

Spanish (Gómez): from a medieval personal name, probably of Visigothic origin, from guma ‘man’. Compare Gomes.

Portuguese and Galician: habitational name from any of the numerous places so named, from Portuguese and Galician rocha ‘rock’, ‘cliff’.

Spanish: habitational name from a place called Salazar in Burgos, probably named with sala ‘hall’ + Basque za(h)ar ‘old’, and thus a Basque equivalent of Saavedra. Spanish: Castilianized variant of Basque Zaraitzu, a habitational name from a town so named in Navarre.

Spanish (Céspedes): from the plural of cesped ‘peat’, ‘turf’ (Latin caespes, genitive caespitis), applied as a habitational name from a place named Céspedes (for example in Burgos province) or named with this word, or a topographic name for someone who lived by an area of peat, or possibly as a metonymic occupational name for someone who cut and sold turf.

Spanish: nickname from the past participle of hurtar ‘to rob or conceal’ (Late Latin furtare, from furtum ‘theft’, fur ‘thief’). The reference was probably to an illegitimate child, whose existence was concealed, or to a kidnapped child.

Spanish: habitational name from Torrico in Toledo province.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from villages so called in the provinces of Seville and Badajoz, from a word meaning ‘iron smithy’, ‘blacksmith’s forge’ (a derivative of hierro ‘iron’, Latin ferrum). French: habitational name from the Gascon form of Ferrière, a place in Pyrénées-Atlantique. The place name is derived from Latina ferraria ‘iron-mine’, ‘iron-forge’.

Portuguese: unexplained. This very common Portuguese surname seems to have originated in Andalusia, Spain.

Galician and Spanish (Ríos): habitational name from any of the places called Ríos, predominantly in Galicia. Spanish (Ríós): habitational name from Ríós in Ourense, Galicia.

Spanish (Velásquez): patronymic from the personal name Velasco.

Spanish and Galician: habitational name from any of the places in Galicia, Santander, and Cáceres named Rivero, from ribero ‘bank’, ‘shore’ (Late Latin riparium, a derivative of ripa ‘bank’).

Spanish: from mercado ‘market’, topographic name for someone living by a market or metonymic occupational name for a market trader.

Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places so named, from Catalan roca ‘rock’. This name is also Occitan.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Rivera, a variant of Ribera. Italian: northern variant of the southern (especially Sicily) topographic name Ribera. Catalan: in some cases, variant of Catalan Ribera.

Italian: possibly a habitational name, but otherwise from a female personal name; the documentary evidence is not clear. Spanish: probably a byname from poma ‘apple’, ‘fruit’. Catalan: nickname from Catalan poma ‘apple’, or variant of Pomar.

habitational name from any of the places named Salvatierra (literally ‘save land’). This is a widespread place name, denoting a place of strategic importance. Castilianized form of Galician Salvaterra or Aragonese Salbatierra, habitational names from places in Galicia and Aragon.

Spanish: patronymic from the personal name Ruy, a short formnof Rodrigo. DK, kh, RS

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived in a place overgrown with broom, from a collective form of escoba ‘broom’ (Late Latin scopa), or a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word: for example, Escobar de Campos (León), Escobar de Polendos (Segovia), and three minor places in Murcia.

Spanish: from the popular medieval personal name Arias which is probably of Germanic origin. Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Spanish family name.

Basque: Castilianized variant of Basque Zanbrana, a habitational name from the town called Zanbrana, in Araba province, Basque Country.

Galician: habitational name from any of the places in the Galician provinces of Ourense and Lugo named Saavedra, from saa ‘hall’ (from Gothic sals ‘main house’) + vedro ‘old’ (Latin vetus).

This could be onomatopoeic Spanish for the sound "tap."Found in Asturias. Name of villages near Leon and Oviedo. Derived from word "toppa" meaning a wall made from mud.Basque word meaning a place of the cranberries.Castilian name.

Spanish: habitational name from either of two places in Badajoz province, probably so called from Latin villa Aureliana ‘estate of Aurelius’ (see Orell).

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): nickname from pinto ‘colorful’, ‘painted’. Spanish: habitational name from Pinto in Madrid. Catalan (Pintó): Catalan variant of Pintor ‘painter’. Portuguese: from a nickname from pinto ‘chick’. This name is also common in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists. Italian: from pinto ‘mottled’, ‘dotted’ (Late Latin pinctus, for classical Latin pictus ‘painted’), hence a nickname for a person with a blotchy or pock-marked complexion or pepper-and-salt hair, or in some parts of the south at least from the same word in the sense ‘lively or restless person’.

Spanish and Portuguese: from the Marian epithet paz ‘peace’ (Latin pax, genitive pacis): María de la Paz (Spanish), Maria da Paz (Portuguese). The name was often assumed, as an approximate translation of the Hebrew personal name Shelomo, by Jews converted to Christianity.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the various minor places, for example in the provinces of Burgos, Guadalajara, and Valladolid, named from Spanish padilla ‘frying pan’, ‘breadpan’ (Latin patella, a diminutive of patina ‘shallow dish’), a word which was commonly used in the topographical sense of a gentle depression.

Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of numerous places named Molina, in particular the one in Guadalajara province.

Spanish (from Galician): habitational name from Ortega in A Coruña province. Spanish: nickname from ortega ‘(female) black grouse’ (from Greek ortyx ‘quail’). Southern French (Occitan): topographic name from Occitan ortiga ‘nettle’ (Latin urtica, French ortie).

from the personal name Velasco, Belasco, formed with Basque bel- ‘raven’ + the diminutive suffix -sco. in some cases possibly a habitational name from any of various places in Logroño, Soria, and Seville provinces named Velasco.

Italian: either from the female personal name Laura or a topographic name from Latin laurea ‘laurel (bush or crown)’. Spanish: of uncertain derivation; in some cases, possibly a habitational name from Laura in Badajoz province.

Basque: habitational name or topographic name from Basque ai ‘slope’, ‘hillside’ + al(h)a ‘pasture’.

Catalan and Spanish: habitational name from any of various minor places called Cabrera, from Late Latin capraria ‘place of goats’ (a derivative of Latin capra ‘goat’).

nickname from Spanish zurita ‘dove’. habitational name from either of two places, in Uesca and Santander, named Zurita, possibly from Basque zuri ‘white’.

Basque: habitational name from Zarate, a place in Araba province, named from Basque zara ‘thicket’.

Spanish: variant of Cortés (see Cortes).

Spanish: habitational name from any of the several places, as for example Medina-Sidonia in Cádiz province and Medina del Campo in Valladolid, so called from Arabic medina ‘city’. The surname is also borne by Sephardic Jews.

Spanish (León): habitational name from León, a city in northwestern Spain, named with Latin legio, genitive legionis ‘legion’, a division of the Roman army. In Roman times the city was the garrison of the 7th Legion, known as the Legio Gemina. The city’s name became reduced from Legion(em) to Leon(em), and in this form developed an unetymological association with the word for ‘lion’, Spanish león. Spanish: from the personal name León, from Greek leon ‘lion’ (see Lyon 2). Leon is also found as a Greek family name. Spanish: nickname for a fierce or brave warrior, from león ‘lion’. French (Léon) and English: variant of Lyon.

Spanish: habitational name from Terrazas in Burgos, so named from the plural of terraza ‘terrace’ (Latin terraceus).

Galician: habitational name from Quiroga, a place in Lugo province, so named from the plant queiroga, quiroga ‘erica’.

Spanish (Calderón): topographic name from an augmentative of caldera ‘basin’, ‘crater’, ‘hollow’, a common element of stream and mountain names, or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Calderón in Valencia province. Alternatively, it may be a metonymic occupational name from the same word in the sense ‘kettle’, ‘cauldron’.

Spanish: possibly topographic name from the plural of Spanish claro ‘clearing (in a forest)’, or variant of Claro.

Spanish: occupational name for a beater or other assistant at a hunt, from an agent derivative of monte, which, as well as meaning ‘mountain’, ‘hill’, could be used in the transferred sense of a game forest on wooded upland. The occupational term was itself also used as a title for any of various palace functionaries, and some cases of the surname may derive from this.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Soria province, named Aguilera from aguilera ‘eagle’s nest’ (from Latin aquilaria ‘place of eagles’).

Spanish (Mejía): probably from a religious byname (possibly under Jewish influence), from a vernacular form of Latin, Greek Messias ‘Messiah’, from Hebrew mašia?h ‘anointed’.

Spanish, Galician and Portuguese: topographic name for someone who lived in a lean-to built against the wall of a larger building, from Spanish pared, Portuguese and Galician parede ‘(house) wall’. Servants often lived in buildings of this sort outside manor houses, and masons constructed huts of this kind on the site of their labors, making temporary use of the walls of the new building. There are also numerous places named with this word, and the surname may also be a habitational name from any of these.

habitational name from any of numerous places named Soto or El Soto, from soto ‘grove’, ‘small wood’ (Latin saltus). Castilianized spelling of Asturian-Leonese Sotu, a habitational name from a town so named in Asturies. Castilianized spelling of the Galician equivalent, Souto.

Spanish: plural variant of Vallejo.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): nickname for someone with dark hair and a swarthy complexion, from Spanish and Portuguese moreno ‘dark-haired’, a word of uncertain origin, probably from Late Latin maurinus, a derivative of classical Latin Maurus ‘Moor’. Compare Moore 2.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Llanos or Los Llan, from the plural of llano ‘plain’.

Spanish (Díaz): patronymic from the medieval personal name Didacus (see Diego).

Spanish: from castillo ‘castle’, ‘fortified building’ (Latin castellum), a habitational name from any of numerous places so named or named with this word.

Spanish: nickname for a man with white or fair hair or a pale complexion, from blanco ‘white’. Italian (Sicily): variant of Bianco, perhaps influenced by French blanc and Spanish (see 1 above).

One who came from Sandoval, in Spain.The latin "sancto-vallis" - holy valley - provides the meaning of this surname. One who dwells in a holy valley.Castilian name from political subdivision of Villadiego (Burgos), and descended from Count Fernán-González.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Hinojosa, from a derivative of hinojo ‘fennel’. See also Fennell.

Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Ribera, from ribera ‘bank’, ‘shore’ (from Late Latin riparia). This is also found as a (southern) Italian surname, of the same derivation.

Spanish: habitational name from places in the provinces of Santander and Navarra called Arce. Their name is a Castilianized spelling of Basque artze ‘stony place’ (from arri ‘stone’ + the suffix of abundance -tz(e)).

Basque: habitational name from any of several places in the province of Biscay named with arte ‘holm oak’ + the locative suffix -aga ‘place or group of’.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived by a field of lucerne, Spanish melgar (a collective derivative of mielga ‘lucerne’, Late Latin melica, for classical Latin Medica (herba) ‘plant’ from Media). There are several places in Spain named with this word, and the surname may be a habitational name from any one of them. Dutch: variant of Melchior.

Spanish (Cáceres): habitational name from the city of Cáceres in Estremadura, named with the plural of Arabic al-qa?sr ‘the citadel’.

nickname for an ugly or stupid person, from Spanish mal donado ‘ill-favored’. The phrase is a compound of mal ‘badly’ + donado ‘given’, ‘endowed’, past participle of donare ‘to give’, ‘to bestow’. habitational name from Maldonado, a village in the province of Albacete.

Spanish: from the personal name Bautista, Spanish form of Baptist.

Spanish: habitational name from a place so named in Segovia province or from Coca de Alba in Salamanca. Italian: probably an altered spelling of Cocca, or possibly a variant of Coco.

Ukrainian: occupational name from Ukrainian chura, dzhura ‘cossak servant’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named with fuentes, plural of fuente ‘spring’, ‘well’ (see Fuente), as for example Fuentes (Cuenca, Albacete, and Segovia provinces), Fuentes Calientes (Teruel), Fuentes de León (Badajoz), Fuentes de Valdepero (Palencia).

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Soria province.

Spanish: habitational name from places called Luna in Zaragoza, Araba, and Lleón provinces. Jewish (Sephardic): from the female personal name Luna (Spanish luna ‘moon’).

Portuguese: topographic name from campos ‘fields’, denoting someone who lived in the countryside as opposed to a town.

Galician, Asturian-Leonese, and Portuguese: habitational name from any of numerous places called Parada, predominantly in Galicia, but also in Asturies, Lleón, and northern Portugal.

Basque: habitational name from any of various places, for example in the province of Araba, Basque Country, so named from the plural of Late Latin heredium ‘hereditary estate’ (a derivative of heres), i.e. one that could be passed on to the heirs of its tenant instead of reverting to the overlord.

Spanish (Alarcón): habitational name, most probably from Alarcón in Cuenca province.

Spanish form of Basque Agirre, a topographic name from Basque ager, agir ‘open space’, ‘pasture’. This is found as the first element of several place names, reflected in surnames such as Aguirrezabal(a) ‘broad open space’; the modern surname may be a shortening of any of these.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Vega or La Vega, from vega ‘meadow’ (of pre-Roman origin, probably originally denoting irrigated land).

Basque: habitational name from any of various places in Biscay and Araba named Zabala, from Basque zabal ‘large’, ‘broad’ + the definite article -a. In some cases the surname may have arisen as a nickname from the same word.

Spanish: probably a topographic name from daza ‘sorghum’. Italian: probably a habitational name from Daza in Messina province, Sicily.

Spanish and Italian: from a personal name, in origin an ethnic name for a Frank, a member of the Germanic people who inhabited the lands around the river Rhine in Roman times. See also Frank. The personal name was popularized by the cult of San Franco di Assergi. Italian and Spanish: nickname or status name from franco ‘free’ (usually denoting a freed slave). Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Spanish surname.

Catalan (València) and Spanish: habitational name from any of various places called València or Valencia, principally the major city in eastern Spain, which was formerly the capital of an independent Moorish kingdom of the same name, until it was reconquered in 1239 by James I, king of the Catalan dynasty, and became part of the Crown of Aragon together with the Principality of Catalonia and the Kingdom of Aragon. The city was apparently named from an honorary title derived from Latin valens ‘brave’.

Spanish: from a variant of salcedo ‘willow plantation’, as a topographic or habitational name (see Salcedo).

Spanish (especially southern Spain): habitational name from any of various places called Vera or La Vera, named with vera ‘river bank’.

Spanish and Portuguese: variant of Cardoso. This name is also found in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists.

Ancient surname found in €oria, Navarre, Aragon, Castile, Estremadura, and Andalusia. Name of village near Osma and province in Spain. Means of or from Soria but origin and meaning unknown."Oria" is a variant of "aurea" and in a figurative sense means charming.

Spanish: of uncertain derivation; possibly from lima ‘file’. Portuguese: topographic name for someone living on the banks of the river of this name (of pre-Roman origin, probably akin to a Celtic element lemos, limos ‘elm’).

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Salinas, from the plural of salina ‘saltworks’ (Latin salinae, a derivative of sal ‘salt’).

from a personal name, byname, or nickname, dos Santos (from Spanish Todos los Santos ‘All Saints’, Portuguese Todos os santos), typically bestowed on a child born on All Saints’ Day. in many cases, a habitational name from any of the places named Santos, from the dedication of a local church or shrine to all the saints. This is a very common Portuguese surname.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname for a thin person, from Spanish, Portuguese delgado ‘slender’ (Latin delicatus ‘dainty’, ‘exquisite’, a derivative of deliciae ‘delight’, ‘joy’).

Portuguese, Galician, and Jewish (Sephardic): topographic name from Portuguese pereira ‘pear tree’, or a habitational name from a place named with this word in Portugal and Galicia. The surname is also common in western India, having been taken there by Portuguese colonists.

Spanish: variant spelling of Valdés (see Valdes).

Spanish (mainly Mexico): variant of Quiros.

Spanish: habitational name from Siles in Jaén province.

Spanish and Portuguese: from a personal name of uncertain, possibly pre-Roman, origin.

Spanish, Galician, Aragonese, and Portuguese: habitational name from any of the numerous places called with Salas, like Salas and Salas de los Barrios, (Galicia), Salas de los Infantes, (Burgos province), Salas Altas and Salas Baxas (Aragon), from the plural of Sala. Catalan and Asturian-Leonese: variant of Sales. Americanized spelling of Hungarian Szálas, a nickname from szálas ‘tall’.

Spanish: metonymic occupational name for a cobbler or shoemaker, from zapato ‘half boot’. Spanish and Galician: possibly also a habitational name from the places in Pontevedra and Ávila called Zapata.

Spanish: habitational name from Villegas, a place in Burgos province.

Balderrama might have changed from Valderrama at some point in time.

Portuguese, Galician, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the many places called Silva, or a topographic name from silva ‘thicket’, ‘bramble’.

Spanish: variant spelling of Ledesma.

Southern Italian: possibly a nickname from Sicilian moddu ‘soft’, ‘delicate’. Catalan: habitational name from Molló in Girona province, or from Prats de Molló in northern Catalonia, east Pyrenees. Southern French (Occitan): topographic name from a diminutive of Old French mol ‘soft’, ‘muddy’.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Badajoz province called Alvarado.

Spanish and Portuguese (Paniágua): status name for a servant who worked for his board (pan ‘bread’ and agua ‘water’) and lodging.

Spanish: from a diminutive of Delgado.

Masculine adjective referring to someone from Béjar, a city in the Salamanca province of western Spain.Of Portuguese origin but established in Estremadura in 13th century.

Spanish (also de la Loza): habitational name from any of several places named Loza (in Galicia, Asturias, and the Basque Country), probably named with loza ‘clay, earthenware’. in some cases Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Lloza, a habitational name from a town called Lloza in Asturies.

One who came from Barrios (district, suburb); the name of many places in Spain.Popular surname found in most of the Peninsula, but mainly in northern areas: Leon, Vizcaya, and Burgos. Over 30 towns and villages in all parts of Spain with this name which implies a political subdivision, a ward or suburb.

Spanish (Márquez): patronymic from the personal name Marcos.

Spanish: topographic name from carrasco, carrasca ‘holm oak’ (from Latin cerrus, from a pre-Roman Celtiberian word), or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word, as for example Carrasco in Salamanca province or Casas Carrasco in Jaén province, Spain.

This is a Leonese name from Astorga. Found throughout the Peninsula and also Colombia.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived near an oak grove, from a collective noun derivative of carvallo ‘oak’, or a habitational name from a place so named, for example in Málaga province. Compare Carbajal.

Spanish (also found in Portugal and Brazil): topographic name for someone who lived by a mountain ridge or chain of hills, from an adjectival derivative of serra.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from the title of rank conde ‘count’, a derivative of Latin comes, comitis ‘companion’. English: unexplained.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places called Pedraza, especially those in the provinces of Palencia, Salamanca, and Segovia.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, northern Italian, French, and English: from the personal name, a derivative of the Latin personal name Vitalis (see Vitale).

Spanish: occupational name from caballero ‘knight’, ‘soldier’, ‘horseman’ (from Late Latin caballarius ‘mounted soldier’).

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname or topographic name from the adjective montano ‘from the mountains’. Italian: topographic name from Italian montano ‘mountain’, or a habitational name from a place called Montano, in particular Montano Antilia in Salerno province, or the district of Caianello in Caserta so named. Italian: from the personal name Montano, from Latin montanus ‘mountain dweller’.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Santoña in Santander province, whose name derives from escala ‘ladder’ (Latin scala), referring to a terraced slope.

Galician, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the numerous places named Torres, all named with the plural of torre ‘tower’ (see Torre). Italian: habitational name from Torres in Belluno or Porto Torres in Sassari. In southern Italy the surname is sometimes a borrowing from Spanish (see 1). Dutch: from a short form of Victoris, from the Latin personal name Victorius.

Spanish (Beltrán), Catalan, and southern French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’ + hrabn ‘raven’. See also Bertram.

Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Spain and Portugal named Estrada, from estrada ‘road’, Latin stata (via) (from sternere ‘to strew or cover’), a term denoting a paved way.

Basque: variant spelling of Loaiza.

Galician and Portuguese: habitational name from any of numerous places in Galicia and Portugal named Andrade, perhaps originally villa Andr(e)ati ‘estate of a man named Andreas’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places, for example in the provinces of Salamanca, Valladolid, and Segovia, so named encina ‘holm oak’ (Old Spanish lecina, Late Latin ilicina, a derivative of classical Latin ilex, genitive ilicis). Galician (Enciñas): topographic name from the plural from of enciña, a Galician variant of encina.

Spanish (Terán): habitational name from Terán in Santander province.

Spanish, Catalan and Galician: of uncertain derivation; it could be from the pre-Roman personal name Vela (compare Basque bela, vela ‘raven’). More likely perhaps, it may be a byname from vela meaning either ‘sail’ or ‘watchman’. Spanish: habitational name from a place name Vela, in Córdoba province. Portuguese: habitational name from a place named Vela in Portugal. Czech: from a pet form of either of two personal names, Velislav or Velimir.

Spanish (Ávila): habitational name from Ávila in old Castile. Its name, first recorded in the Latin forms Avela and Abulia, is of unknown derivation and meaning. Portuguese and Galician: from Davila, a topographic name for someone from a town or village, da vila, reinterpreted as d’Avila.

Basque: topographic name, probably formed with Basque ali ‘food’ + the locative suffix -aga.

Spanish: nickname for a person with some peculiarity of the cheek or jaw, Spanish carrillo. The word is attested since the 13th century, but its origin is uncertain. It appears to be a diminutive of carro ‘cart’, ‘wagon’, and it has been suggested that the reference is to the movements of the jaw in chewing. The surname may also have denoted originally a bold or shameless person; for the semantic development compare Cheek.

Spanish (Cárdenas): habitational name from places in the provinces of Almería and Logroño named Cárdenas, from the feminine plural of cárdeno ‘blue’, ‘bluish purple’ (Late Latin cardinus, from carduus ‘thistle’). Presumably the noun tierras ‘lands’ is to be understood, and the reference is to land covered with bluish plants, such as thistles or vines.

Spanish: habitational name from the city so named in Cáceres province, called in Latin Turgalium, which is probably of Arabic origin. This place was the home of various conquistadors, hence its great frequency in the Americas.

Spanish: topographic name from the plural of roble ‘oak’, or a habitational name from Los Robles in Lleón, named from the same word.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname for someone with tawny hair, from pardo ‘dusky’, ‘brown’, ‘dark gray’, (from Latin pardus ‘leopard’). Italian: from a personal name, a variant of the Lombardic personal name Bardo (see Bardo). Italian and Greek: from the Greek personal name Pardos ‘leopard’, ‘cheetah’.

Spanish (Córdova): variant of Cordoba.

habitational name from any of the numerous places named Villanueva, from Spanish villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + nueva (feminine) ‘new’ (Latin nova). Castilianized spelling of Catalan and Galician Vilanova, a habitational name from a frequent place name, of the same derivation as 1 above.

Catalan, French, English, German (also Romann), Polish, Hungarian (Román), Romanian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian: from the Latin personal name Romanus, which originally meant ‘Roman’. This name was borne by several saints, including a 7th-century bishop of Rouen. English, French, and Catalan: regional or ethnic name for someone from Rome or from Italy in general, or a nickname for someone who had some connection with Rome, as for example having been there on a pilgrimage. Compare Romero.

Spanish: habitational name from either of two places named Nogales: in Badajoz and Málaga provinces.

Spanish: habitational name from any of several places called Murillo, notably in Navarre, Logroño, and Zaragoza provinces, so named from a diminutive of muro ‘wall’.

Spanish: from mancilla ‘mole’, ‘birthmark’ or ‘blot’, ‘stain’ (Latin manucella), hence a nickname for someone with a blemish on their skin or their character. Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from Mancilla, a village in Lleón province, northern Spain.

Castilianized form (alongside Araoz) of Basque Araotz, a habitational name from a town called Araotz in Gipuzkoa province, Basque Country; or possibly also a topographic name from Basque ara(n) ‘valley’ + an unidentified suffix, or alternatively a reduced form of Aranotz, from aran ‘valley’ + otz ‘cold’.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from bravo ‘fierce’, ‘violent’, ‘courageous’ (from Latin barbarus ‘barbarian’, ‘ruffian’).

Spanish or Basque: possibly a topographic name from Basque belar ‘vegetation’, ‘grass’ + the suffix -de, -di denoting abundance.

(also Greek, Titos): from the Latin personal name Titus, which was borne by a disciple of St. Paul who became bishop of Crete. It is also found as a surname among Spanish speakers. habitational name from Tito in Potenza province. in southern Italy, possibly a nickname from Sicilian titu ‘small’.

Spanish: habitational name from Burgos, the capital of old Castile.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Rosales, from the plural of rosal, collective of rosa ‘rose’ (see Rosal). Galician (Rosalés): name for someone from Rosal, a town in Baixo Miñ district in Galicia.

Spanish: habitational name from Conteraras, a place in the province of Burgos. The place name is derived from Late Latin contraria ‘surrounding area’, ‘region’ (from the preposition contra ‘opposite’, ‘against’, ‘hard by’).

Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, and southern French: nickname for a man noted for his beard, from barba ‘beard’ (Latin barba). Italian: from a byname from a southern dialect word meaning ‘uncle’ (from Latin barba ‘beard’ via Lombardic barba, barbane), as characterizing a man of wisdom and authority. Greek: see Barbas. Slovenian: unexplained. This name comes from the Brkini region in southwestern Slovenia.

Spanish: habitational name from Bustamante in Santander province, so named with Late Latin bustum Amantii ‘pasture (see Busto) of Amantius’, a personal name derived from Late Latin Amans, genitive Amantis, meaning ‘loving’.

One who came from Galarza (stone mound), in Spain.Galarza comes from a Basque word meaning "abedulal" or place of the birch trees.Basque name from parish of Galarza in political subdivision of Vergara (Guipúzcoa). Later went to Vizcaya, Álava, and Navarre.

Aragonese, Catalan, and Spanish: habitational name from any of the places in Aragon, Catalonia, and Navarre called Peralta, from Latin petra alta ‘high rock’. This name is also established in Italy.

Spanish (Castellón): Castilianized form of Catalan Castelló, a habitational name from any of the places so named. This Castilianized form is notably applied to Castelló de la Plana, a town in Valencia, where the Castilianization process of Catalan is remarkable (see Castelló).

Spanish, Portuguese, and northern Italian: nickname for a man with curly hair, from Latin crispus ‘curly-haired’.

plural variant of Rey. Castilianized form of the Galician habitational name Reis.

Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish: topographic name from olivera ‘olive tree’. In some cases a Castilianized spelling of Galician Oliveira.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named with arroyo ‘watercourse’, ‘irrigation channel’ (a word of pre-Roman origin).

Spanish (Véliz): variant of Vélez (see Velez).

Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): from a medieval personal name, a short form of Bonaventura or Buenaventura, meaning ‘good fortune’, or, in the case of the Italian name, a nickname from ventura ‘fortune’, ‘luck’. The name Bonaventura was borne in honor of a saint (1221–74) who was given this nickname by St. Francis of Assisi when he cured him miraculously as a child.

Spanish: from coronado ‘crowned’, past participle of coronare ‘to crown’, applied as a nickname for someone who behaved in an imperious manner.

Spanish: from dorado ‘golden’ (from Late Latin deaurare ‘to gild’, from aurum ‘gold’), probably applied as a nickname to someone with golden hair.

Spanish: plural of Quintero, probably from a place name.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Valverde ‘green valley’.

Spanish: variant (plural) of Calleja.

Spanish, Italian, and Romanian: habitational name from any of the places named in any of these languages with this element. Its meaning is various and disputed; the coincidence in form with Latin alba (feminine) ‘white’ is suggestive, but in many cases the name is pre-Roman and denotes a site on a hill or mountain.

Spanish (Domínguez): patronymic from the personal name Domingo.

Galician and Spanish: nickname, probably for a high-spirited person, from becerra ‘young cow’, ‘heifer’. It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a cowherd.

Spanish: from the personal name Cayo, Spanish equivalent of Gaetano. possibly also from the Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Cayu, a habitational name from either of two places in Asturies named El Cayu.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from the city in central Spain, which was the capital of the Visigothic state between the 6th and 8th centuries. Its role declined for three centuries after the Muslim invasion of Spain, until it was taken as the capital of the kingdom of Castile between the 11th and 16th centuries. It was a major cultural and political center throughout the Middle Ages, and was also the home of an important Jewish community. The place name, first recorded in Latin as Toletum, is of obscure etymology, possibly connected with Toleto in Piedmont; Jewish tradition connects it with Hebrew toledot ‘generations’, but this is no more than folk etymology.

Spanish (of Basque origin): Castilianized form of the Basque personal name Otxoa, equivalent of Latin lupus ‘wolf’.

Spanish: probably a Castilianized or Americanized form of Sousa, or (less likely) from sosa ‘seaweed’.

in Spain, a widespread family name of uncertain derivation. in Chile, a habitational name from Valdivia in Chile. in Ecuador, a nickname from valdivia ‘bird of prey’.

Spanish: habitational name from Moya, in Cuenca, or from places so named Valencia, Lugo, and the Canaries. Catalan (Moyà): variant spelling of the habitational name from Moià in Barcelona province, named in Late Latin as Modianus ‘(estate) of Modius’ (a personal name derived from Latin modus ‘measure’).

Spanish: habitational name from the eastern seaport of Cartagena (earlier Carthago Nova) in Murcia province.

Spanish: possibly a variant of Cosio.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Rivas or Ribas, a variant of Ribas. in some cases, variant of Catalan Ribes (see Ribas).

Catalan: from the personal name Bernal, a variant of Spanish Bernaldo (see Bernard).

Galician: from any of the places in Galicia called Peredo (‘pear tree orchard’; compare Pereda).

Basque: habitational name from any of several places in the Basque Country named Ibarra, from ibar ‘meadow’ + the definite article -a.

Spanish: topographic name for someone living on or by a cluster of hillocks, from the plural of cabeza ‘head’, ‘hillock’ (see Cabeza).

Spanish: from a characteristic (but rare) hybridization, in this case of Semitic (i)ben ‘son’ + Egas, a personal name of Visigothic origin. More widespread is the Portuguese equivalent, Viegas.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: habitational name from any of various places in Spain, Portugal, and Italy called Montenegro (‘black mountain’).

Spanish and French: from the medieval personal name Ponce, ultimately from Pontius, a Roman family name of uncertain origin, perhaps an ethnic name for someone from Pontus (named with Greek pontos ‘ocean’) in Asia Minor, or an Italic cognate of Latin Quintus ‘fifth’ (i.e. ‘fifth-born’). The name was borne by two 3rd-century saints, a Carthaginian deacon and a martyr of Nice, but was not widely popular in the Middle Ages because of the inhibiting influence of the even more famous Pontius Pilate. In some cases, though, the surname may have been originally used for someone who had played the part of this character in a religious play.

Spanish, Italian, and Jewish (Sephardic) (of Basque origin): regional name denoting someone from Navarre (see Navarra).

Spanish: habitational name from Meneses de Campos (Palencia, Castile), or for an ethnic name for someone from the Mena valley in Burgos. Portuguese: habitational name from any of the several places named Meneses in Portugal.

Gallardo is a word originally used after a name to distinguish between others of the same name which eventually developed into a surname. It means "elegant, graceful."Refers to someone who is full of life and valiant and probably comes from the latin "galleus" which has a similar meaning.

Spanish: variant of Obando.

Catalan: variant of Rodes 2. Galician and Portuguese: habitational name from any of three places in Galicia (in Lugo, Ourense, and Pontevedra), named Rodas, from the plural of roda ‘wheel’. metonymic occupational name for a wheelwright, from roda ‘wheel’, cognate with 1.

Basque: variant of Gernika, a habitational name from Guernica in Biscay, Basque Country.

Italian (Sicily): from Sicilian puma ‘apple’, a variant of standard Italian pomo. Spanish: possibly from Spanish puma ‘puma’.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in León province named Almanza.

Spanish: from hidalgo ‘nobleman’ (attested in this form since the 12th century), a contraction of the phrase hijo de algo ‘son of something’. The expression hijo de (Latin filius ‘son’ + de ‘of’) is used to indicate the abundant possession of a quality, probably influenced by similar Arabic phrases with ibn; algo (Latin aliquid ‘something’) is used in an elliptical manner to refer to riches or importance. As in the case of other surnames denoting high rank, the name does not normally refer to the nobleman himself, but is usually an occupational name for his servant or a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces.

Spanish (Peña), Catalan, Portuguese, and Galician: topographic name for someone who lived near a crag or cliff, Spanish peña, Catalan, Galician, and Portuguese pena, a common element of place names.

Spanish: from cordero ‘young lamb’ (Latin cordarius, a derivative of cordus ‘young’, ‘new’), hence a metonymic occupational name for a shepherd, or alternatively a nickname meaning ‘lamb’.

Basque: habitational name from any of several places in the Basque provinces named Ugarte. The first element of place name, ug-, means ‘river’, ‘water’.

Portuguese and Spanish: from a personal name, bestowed especially on children born on or around the Feast of the Epiphany (6 January), Spanish Aparición, which celebrates the appearance of Christ to the Magi. The Spanish vocabulary word aparición means ‘appearance’ or ‘manifestation’. In Portugal and Spain, however, this is found as a forenames only, not a surname.

Italian: from the personal name Chino, a short form of Franceschino, a diminutive of Francesco (see Francis). Spanish: ethnic name for somebody from China, or possibly also nickname for someone thought to bear a resemblance to Chinese or Asian people. Japanese: in modern times this name is written with characters meaning ‘field of miscanthus reeds’, but there could be an ancient connection to the name Chinu, which is recorded in the Shinsen shojiroku with a character meaning ‘strange’ or ‘unusual’ but actually may have denoted the reeds.

nickname for an old man or someone with prematurely white hair, from cano ‘white or gray haired’, ‘old’, ‘worthy’ (Latin canus). habitational name from a place in Spain called Caño or Cano in Portugal, both named with a derivative of Latin canna ‘reed’.

Portuguese, Asturian-Leonese, Galician, and Spanish: habitational name from any of the places in Portugal (in the provinces of Alentejo and Beira Baixa) or Spain (in Aragon, Asturies, and Galicia) named Cuba, from cuba ‘barrel’ (from Latin cupa). Variant spelling of Kuba.

Spanish variant of Arizpe.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: from a personal name bestowed in honor of the great theologian St. Thomas Aquinas (Tommaso d’Aquino in Italian). Italian: habitational name from a place called Aquino (see D'aquino).

Spanish: habitational name from a place named Lara de los Infantes in Burgos province.

Galician: habitational name from any of the places in Galicia named Figueroa, from a derivative of figueira ‘fig tree’.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Dutch, and German: from the personal name Gil, from French Gille(s), from Latin Aegidius (see Giles). German: from Slavic gil ‘bullfinch’, probably a nickname for a simpleton.

Spanish and Galician: habitational name from any of several places called Escalera, for example in Lugo, Guadalajara, and Málaga, from escalera ‘stairs’, ‘ladder’, probably denoting in some cases a terraced slope.

Spanish (Chavarría): variant of Echevarria.

Spanish: habitational name from one of the places in A Coruña or Gran Canaria called Roque or from El Roque in Tenerife. Catalan (Roqué): from a variant of Roquer, habitational name from any of the places in Catalonia named Roquer or El Roquer, from a derivative of Catalan roca ‘rock’. Possibly an altered spelling of French Rocque, a Picard and southern form of Roche.

Spanish: habitational name from Encima-Angulo in Burgos province.

Japanese: meaning ‘three rice paddies’, the name is more common in eastern Japan. It is also pronounced Santa or Sanda in western Japan. Polish: from a pet form of the personal name Dymitr (Latin Demetrius; see Demetriou).

Spanish (Mérida): habitational name from the city of Mérida in Badajoz province. One of the most important Roman cities of the Iberian peninsula, it was named Augusta Emerita, and established as a colonia of retired soldiers. Latin emerita is the past participle of emerere ‘earn out’, ‘merit’, i.e. ‘complete one’s term of military service’ (from e, ex ‘out of’ + merere ‘to deserve’).

Spanish and Galician: habitational name from any of the places, mainly in Galicia, called Moscoso, named with an adjectival derivative of mosca ‘fly’, denoting a place where there were many flies.

Spanish: status name or occupational name from mariscal ‘marshal’.

Muslim (widespread throughout the Muslim world): from the Arabic personal name ?Ali ‘high’, ‘lofty’, ‘sublime’. Al-?Ali ‘the All-High’ is an attribute of Allah. Abdul-?Ali means ‘servant of the All-High’. ?Ali ibn Abi ?Talib (c. 600–661), the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, was the fourth and last of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (ruled 656–61) and the first imam of the Shiite Muslims. His assassination led to the appearance of the Shiite sect.

Spanish (Chacón): nickname from chacón ‘gecko’.

Spanish and Asturian-Leonese (Solís): habitational name from Solís in Asturies or a similarly named place elsewhere. English: from a medieval personal name bestowed on a child born after the death of a sibling, from Middle English solace ‘comfort’, ‘consolation’. The word also came to have the sense ‘delight’, ‘amusement’, and in some cases the surname may have arisen from a nickname for a playful or entertaining person.

Spanish: habitational name from the city of this name in central Spain. The place name is of uncertain origin (possibly based on a Celtic element sego ‘victory’).

Spanish and Portuguese: from the plural of rosa ‘rose’. Catalan: variant of Roses, habitational name from Roses, a town in L’Alt Empordà, Catalonia (earlier Rodas). Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Las Rosas.

Spanish: from the personal name Alejo, Spanish form of Alexis.

Spanish (D’Ávila): habitational name for someone from Ávila (see Avila). Galician and Portuguese (da Vila): topographic name for someone ‘from the village (vila)’.

Portuguese and Spanish: altered form (by misdivision) of Da Costa.

Spanish (Ávalos): habitational name from Ábalos, a place near Haro in Soria province, on the edge of the Basque country. A Basque origin of the place name has been suggested, involving the stem abar- ‘kermes oak’, but this is highly conjectural.

Spanish (of Basque origin): variant of Orozco.

Spanish: probably a Castilianized form of Catalan Segarra.

Galician: habitational name from a place called Candia, in Lugo province, Galicia. Italian: see De Candia.

Spanish (Dávalos): habitational name, with fused preposition d(e), denoting someone from Ábalos in the province of Soria (see Avalos).

Spanish: habitational name from Rueda in Valladolid, Rueda denJalón in Zamora, Rueda de la Sierra in Guadalajara, or any of thenplaces called La Rueda, from Castilian rueda ‘wheel’, Latinnrota. Compare Catalan Roda. DK, kh

Spanish (Alcón): from halcón ‘falcon’, ‘hawk’, applied as a nickname for someone with hawklike features, or a metonymic occupational name for a hawker.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Logroño province named Alfaro, apparently from Arabic al ‘the’ + Old Spanish faro ‘beacon’, ‘lighthouse’.

Spanish (Bazán; of Basque origin): Castilianized form of Basque Baztan, a habitational name from Baztan in Navarre province, named from Basque aza, azta ‘bramble’ + the locative suffix -an, with the addition of initial B-. Polish and Ukrainian: from Polish ba?zant ‘pheasant’ (from Middle High German fasan(t)), hence a nickname for someone thought to resemble the bird in some way.

Spanish and Galician: topographic name for someone who lived by a well, pozo (Latin puteus ‘well’, ‘pit’), or habitational name from any of the many places named Pozo, in particular Pozo in Galicia or El Pozo in Asturies, named with pozo ‘well’ (from Latin puteus).

Spanish and Portuguese: from Italian colonnello, a diminutive of colonna ‘column (of troops)’ (Latin columna), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone in command of a regiment. According to Tibon, the change of -l- to -r- may be under the influence of the word corona ‘crown’ as a symbol of power.

Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the numerous places in Spain (especially in Galicia) and Portugal named or named with Prado, from prado ‘meadow’ (from Latin pratum).

Spanish (Núñez): patronymic from the personal name Nuño (see Nuno).

Spanish: habitational name for someone from a place in Andalusia called Camargo.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and Galician: from parra ‘vine bower’, ‘trellis’, a topographic name or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word.

Spanish (Marín), French, English, Slovenian, Croatian, and Romanian: from the Latin personal name Marinus, borne by several minor early saints. Originally this was a Roman family name derived from Marius (compare Marie), but was often taken to mean ‘of the sea’. Italian (Venetia): variant of Marino. Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian: from the personal name Marija or its short form Mara (see Maria). Galician and Spanish: habitational name from a place called Marín, in particular the one in Pontevedra, Galicia. French: occupational name for a sailor, Old French marin (Late Latin marinus, a derivative of mare ‘sea’). Asturian-Leonese (Marín): occupational name for a sailor in Asturies.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: nickname for an aggressive person or for a soldier, from an agent derivative of guerra ‘war’. Compare Guerra.

Spanish: habitational name from Ojeda in Burgos province or from the valley of Ojeda in Palencia province, which is probably named with a reduced form of Latin folia ‘leaves’ + the collective suffix -eta.

Catalan: topographic name for someone who lived in a plank-built cottage, from Catalan borda ‘board’. Hungarian: see Bordas.

Asturian-Leonese and Spanish: habitational name from any of the places (mainly in Asturies) called Villa, from villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’, or from any of the numerous places named with this word as the first element. Italian: topographic name for someone who lived in a village as opposed to an isolated farmhouse, or in a town as opposed to the countryside, from Latin villa ‘country house’, ‘estate’, later used to denote of a group of houses forming a settlement and in some dialects to denote the most important area or center of a settlement, or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word.

Galician and Portuguese: from a misdivision of Daponte, a topographic name from da ponte ‘from the bridge’.

Catalan (Guàrdia), Spanish, and Italian: from Catalan guàrdia, Spanish and Italian guardia ‘guard’, ‘watch’, a topographic name for someone who lived by a watch place, an occupational name for a member of the town guard, or a habitational name from any of the numerous places named (La) Guardia.

Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian (Baltazár), etc. It is derived from the Biblical personal names Balthazar and Belshazzar, which were originally distinct but by medieval times had come to be regarded as variants of a single name. The first is from Aramaic Balshatzar, Babylonian Baal tas-assar ‘may Baal preserve his life’, the second from Babylonian Baal shar-uzzur ‘may Baal protect the king’. The latter was borne by the Chaldean king for whom Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall (Daniel 5); the main reason for the popularity of the first in medieval Italy and Germany was that, according to legend, it was the name of one of the three Magi from the East who attended Christ’s birth. His supposed relics were venerated at first in Milan, but after 1164 in Cologne, where they had been taken by Rainald of Dassel.

Basque: variant spelling of Zelaia, a habitational name in Biscay province, Basque Country, from Basque zelai ‘field’, ‘meadow’ + the definite article -a.

Basque: Castilianized form of Basque Gebara, a habitational name from a place in the Basque province of Araba. The origin and meaning of the place name are uncertain; it is recorded in the form Gebala by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century ad. This is a rare name in Spain.

Spanish and Portuguese: occupational name for any of various officials who had to take an oath that they would perform their duty properly, from jurado ‘sworn’, past participle of jurar ‘to swear’ (Latin iurare).

probably from farfán, a term denoting one of a group of Spaniards who went to Morocco in the 8th century; there they retained their Christian faith and in 1390 their descendants returned to Spain. in some cases, a habitational name from Farfán in Granada.

Spanish: habitational name for someone from any of several place called Altamira, for example the one in the province of Ávila which is famous for its spectacular cave paintings.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: nickname for a belligerent person or for a soldier, from guerra ‘war’. In some cases the Italian name may represent a short form of various compound personal names containing this element, for example Vinciguèrra. The Iberian name may in some cases reflect a misinterpretation of the Basque base ezquerra, esquerra, from esker ‘left-handed’. Basque: Castilianized form of Basque Gerra, a topographic name for someone who lived in a break or depression in a range of hills, from Basque gerri ‘waist’.

habitational name from places in Toledo and Cáceres provinces named Plata, or various places named La Plata. byname from plata ‘silver’.

Spanish and Galician: from carballo ‘oak’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived by a conspicuous oak tree or in an oak wood, or a habitational name from any of several villages so named in Galicia. Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Carbachu, a habitational name from and old form of Asturian-Leonese carbayu ‘oak’, of pre-Latin origin.

Spanish: habtational name of any of the many places called (Los) Corrales, plural of Corral, plural of Corral.

Spanish (Morón): habitational name from Morón de Almazán in Soria province or Morón de la Frontera in Seville. The former, and possibly the latter also, is probably named from Arabic maurûr ‘hidden’, from the past participle of wárrà ‘to hide or bury’. Spanish (Morón): in some cases, from a derivative of moro ‘Moor’. French: possibly from the old personal name Maurone. French: possibly in some cases a nickname from Old French moron ‘dreamer’.

Spanish: habitational name, probably from Espejo in Córdoba province, or otherwise from one of the minor places so named in Málaga and Araba provinces; the place name is evidently connected with espejo ‘mirror’ (Latin speculum).

French, German, and Dutch: from the personal name Michel (see Michael). Basque: variant from the personal name Mitxel, equivalent of Michael. Polish: from a variant of the personal name Michal (see Michael). Greek: shortened form of any of various patronymic derivatives of Michael, for example Michelakis, Michelakakis, or Michelakos.

Spanish: apparently from coro ‘choir’. This name is common in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.

Spanish: from pizarra ‘slate’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived near a slate quarry or occupational name for someone who worked in one.

Galician and Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from either of two places named Navia, in Galicia and Asturies.

Spanish (Téllez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Tellus, probably of Germanic origin.

Spanish (Vélez): patronymic from the personal name Vela. Spanish (Vélez): habitational name from any of various places in Andalusia called Vélez. Portuguese (Velez, Velêz): unexplained. It may be a habitational name from Vellés in Salamanca.

Spanish: topographical name from cueva ‘cave’, plural cuevas, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word, for example in the provinces of Burgos and Málaga.

Spanish: variant (plural) of Palacio.

Spanish (Muñoz): patronymic from the old personal name Muño.

Spanish: habitational name from Coria in Cáceres province (Latin Caurium), or from Coria del Río, a place in Seville province.

Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese: habitational name from Oliva in Valencia, Santa Oliva in Girona, or possibly from any of the places in Extremadura named La Oliva, from Latin oliva ‘olive’. Italian (mainly southern and Ligurian): from Latin oliva ‘olive’; a topographic name for someone who lived by an olive tree or grove, or a metonymic occupational name for a gatherer or seller of olives or an extractor or seller of olive oil, or perhaps in some cases a nickname for someone with a sallow complexion. German: habitational name from Oliva, a place now in Gdansk voivodeship, Poland.

Americanized spelling of Janko or of Hungarian Jancsó, also a derivative of the personal name János, Hungarian form of John.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Olmos, from the plural of olmo ‘elm’.

Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of various places called Alcocer, for example in the provinces of Guadalajara and Alacant, from Arabic al ‘the’ + qu?ssayr ‘small palace’, a diminutive of qa?sr ‘citadel’ (see Alcazar).

Basque: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Mendieta, from mendi ‘mountain’ + the plural suffix -eta.

Spanish, Catalan, and Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from any of numerous places named Nava, from nava ‘treeless plateau’, a word of pre-Roman origin, most probably from Basque naba ‘plain next to mountains’. The name is also borne by Sephardic Jews.

Spanish (Liño): perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a linen weaver, from liño ‘linen’.Spanish and Portuguese: from the medieval personal name Lino (Latin Linus), or from a short form of a personal name ending with -lino.

Castilianized spelling of Catalan Orpesa, a town in Castelló province. perhaps a habitational name from Oropesa in Toledo.

Spanish: habitational name from Puebla de Sanabria in Zamora province.

From the latin "sarmentum" - vine shoots. The landmark of the area where the inhabitants were given this name. Place name in Argentina.Galician name descended from knight Salvador González, Count of Bureba.

Spanish: apparently a habitational name; however, no place of this name is now known in Spain, and the surname may be a Castilian rendering of Galician Bustelos, from places so named in Ourense and Pontevedra provinces, Galicia.

Spanish (Ibáñez): patronymic from the personal name Ibán, a variant of Juan, a vernacular form of Greek Iohannes (see John).

Spanish and Italian: from the personal name Valeriano, Latin Valerianus, a derivative of Valerius (see Valerio). The name was borne by various minor Christian saints, most notably 4th-century bishops of Aquileia and Auxerre.

Spanish, Aragonese, Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from any of the places named Solano (Burgos and Málaga provinces) or El Solano (Asturies, and Uesca, Aragon), named with solano ‘place exposed to the sun’ (Late Latin solanum, a derivative of sol ‘sun’). Spanish and Portuguese: from a personal name adopted in honor of Francisco Solano, a 17th-century missionary to South America. Italian: possibly also from the personal name adopted in honor of Francisco Solano.

Basque: variant of Bizcarra (see Vizcarra).

Spanish (Guillén): from the personal name Guillén, Spanish equivalent of William.

Spanish: possibly from correa ‘leather strap’, ‘belt’, ‘rein’, ‘shoelace’, plural correas (Latin corrigia ‘fastening’, from corrigere ‘to straighten’, ‘to correct’), applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of such articles.

English, French, German, Polish, and Slovenian; Spanish and Hungarian (Jordán): from the Christian baptismal name Jordan. This is taken from the name of the river Jordan (Hebrew Yarden, a derivative of yarad ‘to go down’, i.e. to the Dead Sea). At the time of the Crusades it was common practice for crusaders and pilgrims to bring back flasks of water from the river in which John the Baptist had baptized people, including Christ himself, and to use it in the christening of their own children. As a result Jordan became quite a common personal name.

Spanish and Portuguese: topographic name, a plural form of Monte. Dutch: patronymic from a short form of a Germanic compound personal name formed with -mund ‘protection’ as the final element. Compare Raymond.

Taboa, in the Galician language, means 'table' (of wood). Thus, Taboada means 'long table' (of wood).

Basque: topographic name for someone who lived between two or more settlements, from Basque iri ‘settlement’ , ‘village’ + arte ‘between’.

Spanish and Portuguese: from the personal name Vicente, Spanish and Portuguese equivalent of Vincent.

Spanish: habitational name from Luque in Córdoba.

Hispanic (Mexico): unexplained; possibly a habitational name from an unidentified place.

Spanish: unexplained. This is a frequent name in Spain.

Spanish and Portuguese: metonymic occupational name for an armorer or a swordsman, from espada ‘sword’ (Latin spata, from Greek spathe, originally denoting a broad, two-edged sword without a point). In some cases the surname may be a Catalan cognate, from Old Catalan espada (now espasa).

Spanish (Villagómez): habitational name from Villagómez la Nueva in Valladolid province, which is named from villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + the personal name Gomez.

Spanish: habitational name from Hoyos in Cáceres province or one of the three places so named in Ávila province, from hoyo ‘pit’, ‘hole’, probably from Latin fovea.

Spanish: habitational name from Aguayo in Córdoba, or from Santa Olalla de Aguayo, in Santander.

Spanish and Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from any of the places named Solares, in Asturies and Santander provinces.

Variant of Spanish Barrios.

Portuguese and Galician: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Portugal and Galicia called Moreira, from moreira ‘mulberry tree’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places called Quintanilla, from a diminutive of quintana ‘country house’ (see Quintana).

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Santander province named Arredondo, from redondo ‘round’, because of the roundish shape of the hill on which it stands.

habitational name from Luján in Huesca province.

Spanish: nickname for an elegant or haughty person, from lozano ‘splendid’, later ‘good-looking’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places, for example in Hervás and Cáceres provinces, named Cerezo, from cerezo ‘cherry tree’ (from Latin cerasus).

Basque: habitational name from a town called Aldana in Biscay province, Basque Country, or topographic name from Basque alde ‘side’, ‘slope’. The ending -ana is common in Basque place names; its meaning is vague: apparently no more than ‘place’.

Asturian-Leonese (Avilés): habitational name from Avilés, a place in Asturies on the coast west of Xixón (Gijón in Spanish). The place name is derived either from a pre-Roman cognomen, Abilus, or from the Latin name Abilius, from the place name formed with (Villa) Abilius + the suffix -ensis. Spanish: possibly also habitational name for someone from Ávila (see Avila).

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places called Linares, as for example in the provinces of Jaén, Seville, Salamanca, Cantabria, Burgos, and Soria, from the plural of linar ‘flax field’ (Latin linare, a derivative of linum ‘flax’). Asturian-Leonese and Aragonese: Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Llinares (also L.linares), or Aragonese Linars, habitational names from the towns in Aragon named with the word linars ‘flax fields’. Spanish (Liñares): occupational name for a linen merchant, Latin linarius.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the various places named Villalba, from villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + albo, feminine alba ‘white’ (Latin alba).

Spanish: from a Latinized form of the personal name Íñigo, which is of pre-Roman origin (recorded in classical times as Enneco). As a personal name it was not common in the Middle Ages; its comparative popularity in Catholic countries today is due to the fame of St. Ignatius of Loyola (Iñigo Yáñez de Oñaz y Loyola, 1491–1556), founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

Galician: habitational name from a place in Lugo province named Cervantes.

Southern Italian (Calabria): nickname from medieval Greek kontos ‘short’.

Spanish: from the medieval personal name Galindo, of predominantly Aragonese origin and distribution, but of unknown etymology.

Spanish: habitational name from a Pantoja in Toledo.

Spanish, Catalan, Asturian-Leonese, and Galician: habitational name from any of the numerous places, large and small, named Quintana, from quintana ‘country house’ (originally having a tax liability of one fifth of the annual produce). variant of French Quintaine, from an Old French term denoting a post for jousting practice, hence a nickname for one who was skilled at this.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places called Arenas, from the plural of arena ‘sand’ (Latin (h)arena).

Galician: topographic name meaning ‘the field’, from the Galician definite article o (masculine singular) + campo ‘field’ (Latin campus), or habitational name from a town of this name in Lugo province, Galicia.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived by a dogwood tree, Spanish cornejo (Latin corniculus), or a habitational name from any of the various minor places named Cornejo, for example in the provinces of Almería, Burgos, and Ciudad Real.

Spanish (Macías) and Portuguese: from a variant of the personal name Matías (see Matthew).

Portuguese and Spanish: habitational name from places named Montalvo. See Montalbo.

Spanish (of Basque origin): habitational name from Orozco in Bilbao province.

Spanish: habitational name from Mansilla, a place in La Rioja province.

Southern Italian: either from pari ‘equal’, ‘same’, or from a short form of Paribene or some other omen name formed with this element.

English, Scottish, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Gavriel ‘God has given me strength’. This was borne by an archangel in the Bible (Daniel 8:16 and 9:21), who in the New Testament announced the impending birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26–38). It has been a comparatively popular personal name in all parts of Europe, among both Christians and Jews, during the Middle Ages and since. Compare Michael and Raphael. It was the name of a famous patriarch and archbishop of Serbia (died 1659). In Russia it was the official Christian name of St. Vsevolod (died 1138). In the U.S. this name has absorbed cognate names from other European languages, for example the Greek patronymics Gabrielis, Gabrielatos, Gabrielidis, Gabrielakos, Gabrieloglou.

Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Jewish (Sephardic and Ashkenazic): nickname from Portuguese, Spanish, Italian caro ‘dear’, ‘beloved’ (Latin carus). In medieval Italy this was also a personal name. Italian (Sicily; Carò): variant of Carrò (see Carro).

Spanish (Góngora) from Basque: habitational name from Basque Gongora, a place in the Aranguren valley in Navarre, Basque Country.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Portillo, from the diminutive of puerto ‘mountain pass’, notably those in Valladolid, Soria, and Toledo.

Spanish (Enríquez): patronymic from Enrique.

English (Suffolk, Essex): unexplained. French: habitation name from Moye in Haute-Savoie. Dutch (de Moye): nickname from Middle Dutch moy, moeie, ‘fine’, ‘handsome’, denoting a well-dressed person or a dandy. Spanish: see Moya.

metonymic occupational name for an official responsible for settling accounts, from Old French paie ‘payment’. Compare Payeur. (Payé): apparently a variant of Paille.

English: patronymic from Alvin.

Spanish, Asturian-Leonese, and Galician: topographic name from the plural of busto ‘meadow’, ‘willow’, or a habitational name from either of the places so named, in León and Galicia (see Busto).

English: variant of Rye 1 and 2. reduced form of Scottish McRea.

Italian and Spanish: from Italian lovera, Spanish lobera ‘wolf pack’ or ‘wolves’ lair’. In Spain this family name, also spelled Lobera, is also a habitational name from any of several places called Lobera or La Lobera.

Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, English, French, and Jewish: ethnic name or regional name for someone from Portugal or who had connections with Portugal. The name of the country derives from Late Latin Portucale, originally denoting the district around Oporto (Portus Cales, named with Latin portus ‘port’, ‘harbor’ + Cales, the ancient name of the city). In some cases the surname may be simply a nickname for someone who had business connections with Portugal.

Catalan: habitational name for someone from a place in Barcelona province named Cardona. Its name dates from the pre-Roman period but the meaning is unknown.

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places, for example Aranda de Duero in Burgos province, which bears a name of pre-Roman, probably Celtic, origin.

English (Cornwall): variant spelling of Barbary.

Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese: from the personal name Clemente (see Clement).

Spanish and Italian: habitational name from any of the many places named with valle ‘valley’, or topographic name for someone who lived in a valley (Latin vallis). Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farmsteads so named, from Old Norse vollr ‘field’, ‘meadow’.

Spanish (Gálvez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Galve (Arabic Ghalib ‘triumphant’), which was borne by various Moorish chieftains in Spanish history and legend, notably the father-in-law of Al-Mansur, the 10th-century vizier of Córdoba.

Spanish (Cañedo), Galician, and Portuguese: habitational name from any of various minor places called Canedo or Cañedo, from Latin canna ‘reed’ + the locative suffix -etum.

Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and southern Italian: habitational name from any of various places named or named with Palma, from Latin palma ‘palm’. Portuguese: habitational name for someone from Parma in Italy.

Spanish: habitational name from Villavicencio de los Caballeros, a place in Valladolid province, named from villa ‘(outlying) farm’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + the personal name Vicencio.

Spanish: habitational name from a place in Logroño province named Clavijo.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from Mena, in Castile and León provinces. Greek (Menas): see Minas.

Spanish: habitational name from places in the provinces of Badajoz and Cadiz called Jerez. The former, now known in full as Jerez de los Caballeros, was the birthplace of the explorer Vasco Núñez (c.1475–1519); the latter, Jerez de la Frontera, was an important center for the manufacture of sherry (named in English from the place) and brandy.

Spanish: possibly from negrete, denoting a member of a 15th-century faction based in the mountainous area of Santander.

Portuguese (Espíndola): of uncertain origin, but possibly a topographic name. It was taken to Portugal by an immigrant family from Genoa, Italy.

Spanish and Catalan: topographic name for someone who lived near a gate or fence, from Spanish and Catalan barrera ‘barrier’. topographic name for someone who lived by a clay pit, Spanish barrera, barrero (a derivative of barro ‘mud’, ‘clay’).

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from Spanish and Portuguese lobo ‘wolf’ (Latin lupus). This name is also found in western India, where it was taken by Portuguese colonists.

Spanish: patronymic from the common medieval personal name Ben Avid, of Arabic origin, from ibn ?Abd ‘son of the servant (of God)’ see Benavidez.

Spanish and Catalan: topographic name from rada ‘natural bay’. Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from places called Rada (Cantabria), Rada de Haro (Cuenca), La Rada (Albacete, Cuenca) or Rada de Moraira (Alacant), or from a Castilianized variant of Basque Arrada, habitational name from a place called Arrada in Navarre. Czech: from a short form of any of several Slavic personal names containing the first element rad- ‘glad’, ‘merry’, in particular Radoslav, in which the second element means ‘glory’, and Radomir, in which the second element means ‘great’, ‘famous’. Hungarian: from the old secular personal name Rada or Ráda, of Slavic origin.

Spanish (also Ábrego): from ábrego, which originally meant ‘African’, from Latin africus. The vocabulary word in modern Spanish has lost this general sense and now means only ‘south wind’, literally, ‘African (wind)’.

Spanish (of Basque origin): variant of Mújica (see Mujica).

Spanish: from monje ‘monk’ (a loanword from Old Occitan, from Latin monachus). Compare Monge.

Galician, Asturian-Leonese, Spanish, and Basque: habitational name from any of numerous places in Galicia, Asturies, León, Santander, and Basque Country named with the topographical term cueto ‘hill’, ‘fortified settlement’ (from Latin cautus ‘sheltered’. The Asturian-Leonese form is a Castilianized variant of the Asturian-Leonese habitational name Cuetu (compare Coto)

habitational name from Salguero in Burgos province, or a Castilianized form of the Galician habitational name Salgueiro, from any of numerous places so named from salguero meaning either ‘willow tree’ or ‘place in which animals are given salt’ (from salgar ‘to salt’). possibly from a homonymous archaic term denoting a spot where salt was given to cattle (Late Latin salicarium, a derivative of salicare ‘to give salt to’, from sal ‘salt’).

Spanish (Frías) and Portuguese: habitational name from any of various places, for example in the provinces of Burgos and Teruel, so called from the feminine plural form of the adjective frío ‘cold’ (Latin frigidus); a noun such as aguas ‘waters’ or fuentes ‘springs’ has been lost.

From Latin Baptista ‘Baptist’ (see Baptiste), a form found in Portugal, Spain (Castile), Germany, and some other countries.

Basque: topographic name from aran ‘valley’ + the Basque definite article -a. The name in the U.S. may have absorbed some instances of Araña, from Spanish araña ‘spider’, a nickname for a weaver or for an industrious or opportunistic person.

Basque: topographic name composed of the elements gain ‘peak’, ‘summit’ + boa ‘rounded’.

English: probably from a pet form of the personal name Patrick. Compare Paddy.

Portuguese and Galician: variant spelling of Pereira.

Surname with a probable prothetic S, which in epigraphic ancient documents and inscriptions represented "sacerdote" or "priest" originally from Arabia. Name of village in Villagrán, Guanajuato in Mexico.It is a Castilian surname from Soria, which spread to Chile from the Order of Santiago starting in 1628.

Spanish: patronymic from the personal name Jaime.

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places in Spain, for example Ballesteros de Calatrava in the province of Ciudad Real, Los Ballesteros (Huelva), Ballesteros (Cuenca), and others no longer identifiable, which were probably so named because of their association with ballesteros ‘crossbowmen’, plural of ballestero, an agent derivative of ballesta ‘crossbow’ (see Ballester).

Spanish and Portuguese: from the personal name Antonio (see Anthony).

Galician: topographic name for someone who lived by a beech tree or in a beech wood, from Late Latin fagea (arbor) ‘beech (tree)’, a derivative of classical Latin fagus ‘beech’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places called Carabajal, from a collective noun derived from carbajo ‘oak tree’.

Spanish: topographic name for someone living near a spring or well, fuente, with the definite article la.

Spanish (from Catalan): habitational name from Orihuela in Alacant province, Spanish form of Catalan Oriola.

Southern Italian: probably a variant of Màita (see Maida). This name is now common in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Japanese: ‘rice paddy’; found mostly in western Japan, it is also pronounced as Yoneda, Kometa, and Maida.

Spanish and Catalan: variant (plural) of Casa. The Catalan form is a respelling (probably Castilianization) of Catalan Cases.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places called Muriel, in Soria, Gaudalajara, or Valladolid. English (East Anglia): from the female personal name Muriel, of Breton origin. This was common in East Anglia during the Middle Ages, where it was introduced by Breton settlers following the Norman invasion.

Spanish (Arévalo): habitational name from places called Arévalo, in the provinces of Ávila and Soria, or from various places named with this word.

Spanish (Peñaranda): habitational name from places in Burgos and Salamanca named Peñaranda.

Spanish: probably a variant of Quesada.

Spanish: habitational name from Toro in Zamora province, called Campos Gotorum in the Middle Ages. Spanish: nickname from toro ‘bull’ (usually in the form Del Toro). Italian: nickname for a lusty person or a metonymic occupational name for a tender of bulls, from Italian toro ‘bull’ (Latin taurus). Italian: from a short form of the personal name Ristoro. Estonian or Finnish: unexplained.

Italian: variant spelling of Cala. Catalan (Callà): respelling of Catllà or Catllar, two habitational names from any of the towns so named, mainly Catllà, a town in the district of El Conflent, northern Catalonia (called Catllar in French), and El Catllar, a town in the district of El Tarragonès, in Catalonia.

Spanish: from the personal name Felipe, Spanish form of Philip.

Spanish (Bolívar): Castilianized form of Basque Bolibar, a habitational name from any of several places named Bolibar, for example in Biscay province, from Basque bolu ‘mill’ (Latin molinum) + ibar ‘meadow’, ‘riverbank’.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from alegre ‘bright’, ‘merry’ (Latin alacer).

Galician and Portuguese: common topographic name for someone who lived by a forge or iron workings, from Latin ferraria ‘forge’, ‘iron working’.

Galician: habitational name from Godoy, a place in Galicia. The origin of the place name is uncertain, but a connection has been suggested with the Gothic elements gu{dh}s ‘god’ + wihs ‘saint’.

Spanish: southern variant of Losada.

Castilianized form of Asturian-Leonese Llames, Llamas or L.lamas, habitational names from any of the numerous places named Llames, Llamas, or L.lamas, in Asturies.

Portuguese: from an irregular derivative, of uncertain significance, of Pimenta.

Spanish (González): patronymic from the personal name Gonzalo, a personal name of Visigothic origin, based on the Germanic element gunþ ‘battle’. Compare Portuguese Gonçalves (see Goncalves).

Portuguese, Spanish, and Catalan (Móra): habitational name from any of the places named Mora, in some cases from mora ‘mulberry’ (Late Latin mora, originally the plural of classical Latin morum). Occitan and Catalan (Morà): from Morandus, an old personal name of uncertain derivation and meaning. Italian: topographic name from Old Italian mora ‘pile of stones’. Hungarian (Móra): from a pet form of the personal name Móricz, Hungarian form of Morris. Czech and Polish: from a short form of a personal name, e.g. Czech Mauric, Polish Maurycy, derived from Latin Mauritius (see Morris). Polish: possibly a nickname from mora ‘sickness’, ‘plague’. Czech: possibly a nickname from mora ‘vampire’.

Finnish: topographic and ornamental name from aro ‘hard, relatively infertile ground’ or ‘wet meadow’, ‘swamp’, found both as a place name and as a surname throughout Finland. In many cases the surname was adopted during the name conversion movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in southern Finland. In the U.S. this is also a shortened form of names such as Kiviaro, of which the first element is kivi ‘stone’, ‘rock’. Spanish: habitational name, in some cases from Aro in Galicia, in others probably from Haro in Rioja.

Basque: Castilianized variant of Basque Bergara, a habitational name from places so called (earlier Virgara) in the provinces of Gipuzkoa and Navarre. The place name is of uncertain derivation; the second element is gara ‘hill’, ‘height’, ‘eminence’, but the first has not been satisfactorily identified.

Spanish: habitational name from Cuenca city in Castile, named from cuenca ‘basin’, ‘hollow’ (Latin concha ‘shell’, ‘mussel’).

Basque: topographic name from Basque mendi ‘mountain’ + -zabal ‘wide’, ‘spacious’.

Spanish: habitational name from places named Valenzuela in Córdoba and Ciudad Real. The place name is a diminutive of Valencia, literally ‘Little Valencia’.

Spanish (Benítez): patronymic from Benito.

Catalan: metonymic occupational name for a maker of chains or perhaps for a jailer, from Catalan and Spanish cadena ‘chain’ (Latin catena). This form (singular) is rare as a surname in Castile, but frequent in Catalonia; the plural (Cadenas) occurs in both regions but is more frequent in the former.

Spanish: habitational name from places in Zamora, Cáceres, and Vallodolid provinces. According to Asín Palacios, these names are derived from Arabic al-ma?hrath ‘the cultivated or arable land’; another possible origin would be al-ma?hras ‘the guarded or fortified place’, ‘the sanctuary’.

Spanish and southern Italian (Sicily): habitational name from any of numerous minor places in eastern and southern Spain, and one in Sicily, called Cala, from a proto-Romance word cala ‘bay’, ‘cove’. Southern Italian: nickname from medieval Greek kalas ‘good’, ‘beautiful’ (ancient Greek kalos). Czech (Cála): from a reduced form of an unidentified personal name beginning with Ca-. Polish (Ca{l-}a): variant of Ca{l-} (see Cal).

Basque: Castilianized variant of habitational name from a place in Biscay province named Urkiza, from Basque urki ‘birch tree’ + the collective suffix -tza.

Spanish (Díez): variant of Díaz (see Diaz, Diego). German: variant spelling of Dietz.

Spanish and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from a place called Valero in Salamanca province.

Basque: habitational name from any of several towns called Gamarra, in Araba, Basque Country.

Spanish and Portuguese: from the personal name Jorge, a borrowing of French (and English) George.

Spanish: from the personal name Alejandro, Spanish form of Alexander.

Basque: Castilianized form of Jauregi, a habitational name from any of several places in the Basque Country called Jauregi, from Basque jauregi ‘palace’, ‘manor house’.

English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, etc.: from the Latin personal name Lucas (Greek Loukas) ‘man from Lucania’. Lucania is a region of southern Italy thought to have been named in ancient times with a word meaning ‘bright’ or ‘shining’. Compare Lucio. The Christian name owed its enormous popularity throughout Europe in the Middle Ages to St. Luke the Evangelist, hence the development of this surname and many vernacular derivatives in most of the languages of Europe. Compare Luke. This is also found as an Americanized form of Greek Loukas. Scottish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Lùcais (see McLucas).

Spanish: habitational name from any of several places named Villar(r)eal, from Spanish villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + real ‘royal’ (Latin regalis), as for example Villarreal de San Carlos in Cáceres. The places were so named from having some particular connection with the Crown. in some cases, variant of Catalan Vila-real, from the town named Vila-real in Castelló de la Plana provinve.

Spanish: habitational name from the city of Zamora in northwestern Spain, capital of the province which bears its name.

Spanish (Ortuño): from the personal name Ortuño (Latin Fortunius).

Galician: variant of Figueiredo.

Galician: habitational name from Lazo in A Coruña province. Spanish: nickname from Spanish lazo ‘hair ribbon’, ‘shoe lace’.

Italian (Calabria): derogatory nickname from porco ‘hog’. De Felice suggests it may also have been taken as a name by someone wishing to show Christian repentance and self-abasement.

Portuguese: variant spelling of Barbosa.

Spanish: habitational name from Bonilla in Cuenca province or Bonilla de la Sierra in Ávila province.

Spanish: variant of Esquibel.

Spanish: nickname for someone with a notably pink and white complexion, from Spanish rosado ‘pink’, Late Latin rosatus, a derivative of rosa (see Rose).

Spanish (Ordóñez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Ordoño, of uncertain origin and meaning.

Spanish: habitational name for someone from Zamora, from an adjectival form of the place name. Compare Zambrano.

Spanish or Basque: variant of Loyola.

Catalan: topographic name for somebody who lived in a vila, which in Catalonia denoted a small town or village with certain privileges not common for villages, or habitational name from any of the places called La Vila or Vila. This name is one of the most common names in Catalonia. Catalan: habitational name from (Vilá): variant of Vilar. in some cases possibly also Galician and Portuguese: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Galicia named Vila, from vila ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’.

Spanish (of Basque origin; Mújica): habitational name from Basque Muxika, in Biscay province, Basque Country.

Galician: probably a habitational name from Tenorio in Pontevedra province, Galicia.

Basque: habitational name from Foronda in Araba province, Basque Country.

Spanish (Matías), Portuguese, and Dutch: from the personal name (see Matthew). Americanized form of Czech Mat’áš (from Czech Matej), or of some other Slavic form of the personal name Mathias (see Matthew).

Spanish: habitational name from Viveros, a place in Albacete province, or a Castilianized spelling of Galician Viveiros.

Catalan: habitational name from any of the various places named Roda, for example Roda de Ter, Roda de Berà, Roda de Ribagorça, from Catalan roda ‘wheel’ (Latin rota), possibly denoting a waterwheel. Greek: variant of Rodias (see Rodia). German: habitation name from any of numerous places, particularly in central eastern Germany, named Roda or Rhoda.

Italian and Spanish: nickname from Italian and medieval Spanish merlo ‘blackbird’ (Latin merula). In the Middle Ages this bird seems to have been regarded at times as foolish and gullible, and at other times as cunning and wily. In some cases the surname may have arisen as a metonymic occupational name for a bird catcher.

Spanish (from Basque): habitational name from Basque Lazkao, a town in Gipuzkoa province.

Portuguese: patronymic from the medieval personal name Didacus (genitive Didaci). Compare Diego. This name is also common in the former Portuguese colony of Goa and elsewhere on the west coast of India, having been taken there by Portuguese settlers.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian: nickname for a bald-headed man, from calvo ‘bald’ (Latin calvus).

Chinese : variant of Zhao. Chinese : variant of Chow 1. Chinese : variant of Cao. Chinese : the Chinese character for this name means ‘nest’. Its use as a surname has its origin in Chao Lake in modern Anwei province. The lake gave its name to the state of Chao, which dates back to the Yin dynasty (1401–1122 bc). The name of the state of Chao was in turn adopted by descendants of its ruling class. Portuguese (Chão) and Galician: from a common field name derived from Latin planus ‘level’, ‘even’, ‘flat’.

Spanish: habitational name from any of various places called Plaza, from plaza ‘town square’.

Spanish (Almazán): habitational name from Almazán in the province of Soria, named in Arabic as al-makhzan ‘the stronghold’, ‘the fortified place’.

Spanish (Limón): from Spanish limón ‘lemon’, hence possibly an occupational name for a grower or seller of the fruit. English: variant of Lemon. French: habitational name from Limon in Nièvre, Limont-Fontaine in Nord, or Limont in the Belgian province of Liège.

Galician name originating in Portugal.

Irish: variant of Farrell.

Iranian: from the Persian form of Arabic ?Alawi ‘descendant of Ali’, name of the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and the first imam of the Shiite Muslims.

Greek, Spanish (Elías), Catalan, Portuguese, English, Welsh, French (Élias), German, Dutch, Hungarian (Éliás), Czech (Eliáš), and Jewish: from a medieval personal name, the New Testament Greek form of Hebrew Eliyahu ‘Jehovah is God’ (Anglicized as Elijah in the Old Testament of the King James Bible). This name was borne by a Biblical prophet, but its popularity among Christians in the Middle Ages was a result of its adoption by various early saints, including a 7th-century bishop of Syracuse and a 9th-century Spanish martyr.

Spanish, Galician and Portuguese: from the plural of portal ‘gate’ (see Portal), either as a topographic name or a habitational name from a place called Portales.

Spanish: probably a habitational name from a place named Tejada, most likely the one in Burgos province but possibly the one in Huelva province, so named from a derivative of teja ‘(roof) tile’.

Spanish and Portuguese: from Spanish and Portuguese machado ‘hatchet’ (a derivative of Macho 2), probably a nickname, but possibly also a habitational name, as this word is also a common element of place names.

This surname is derived from an official title. or nick, 'a baron,' or a man who put on an air of dignity such as might become a baron. Middle English baron and barun.Osbert le Barun, Close Roll, 2 Edward I.Richard le Baron, Devon, 1273.

Spanish (Gerónimo) and Italian: from the personal name Geronimo, from Greek Hieronymos (see Hieronymus).

Spanish form (Echeverría) of Basque Etxeberria (see Echevarria).

Galician and Spanish: possibly a variant spelling of Vieira. In Spain the surname is found mainly in the island of Tenerife.

Spanish (Hernández) and Jewish (Sephardic): patronymic from the personal name Hernando (see Fernando). This surname also became established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.

Spanish: unexplained.

Origin unidentified. Possibly Spanish, but unexplained.

Spanish: patronymic from Arabic or Jewish ben ‘son’ + the medieval personal name Ega(s), probably of Visigothic origin. Compare Portuguese Viegas.

Spanish: habitational name from places called Carmona, in the provinces of Santander and (more famously) Seville. The place name is of pre-Roman origin and uncertain meaning.

Galician and Portuguese: nickname for a witty person, from salgado ‘salty’, figuratively ‘witty’, ‘piquant’ (from Late Latin salicatus, past participle of salicare ‘to give salt to’).

Catalan: from the personal name Onofre (see Onofrio).

English and French: from the Middle English, Old French personal name Crispin, Latin Crispinus, a family name derived from crispus ‘curly-haired’ (see Crisp). This name was especially popular in France in the early Middle Ages, having been borne by a saint who was martyred at Soissons in ad c. 285 along with a companion, Crispinianus (whose name is a further derivative of the same word). English and French: diminutive of Crisp.

Spanish (Nicolás), French, Dutch, Greek, etc: from the personal name Nicolas, the usual spelling of Greek Nikolaos in many languages (see Nicholas). English (common in Wales): variant spelling of Nicholas.

Basque: habitational name from Pinedo, a town in Araba province. Spanish (from Asturian-Leonese and Catalan): from any of the numerous places in Asturies and Valencia named Pinedo, a variant of pineda ‘pine forest’.

Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan: from a medieval personal name, Latin Amator ‘lover (i.e. of God)’, from amare ‘to love’. As a personal name it was particularly popular in the 16th century, having been borne by various saints.

Spanish: habitational name from Arellano in Navarre, named in Late Latin as fundus Aurelianus ‘the farm or estate of Aurelius’.

Spanish: habitational name from Lora de Estepa or Lora del Río, both in Seville province. Hungarian (Lóra): from a pet form of the personal name Lóránt (see Roland).

Spanish and Portuguese (Lázaro): from the Biblical personal name Lazaro (see Lazar).

Spanish: from an old personal name from Latin Fortis, from fortis ‘strong’. Compare Portuguese Fortes.

Spanish (Peláez): patronymic from the personal name Pelayo.

Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Perales, from the plural of peral ‘plantation of pear trees’, ‘pear orchard’, a derivative of pera ‘pear’.

Chinese : Cantonese variant of Xu 1. Chinese : Cantonese variant of Cui.

Spanish (Olguín): variant of Holguín (see Holguin).

Spanish (Yépez): habitational name for someone from Yepes. See Yepes.

Spanish: probably a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper, from cerón ‘residue of wax or honeycomb’.

Spanish: variant (plural) of Cirino.

A surname of Jewish descent, denotes a characteristic of the profession who performed some young people in the Middle Ages, called the garzoneria, its purpose was to serve their lords caballeros. The meaning is similar to that used in France: "Garçon" handsome young man but servant for example it is used to call the waiter.

Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and southern French (Occitan): topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town, typically the gatekeeper, or a habitational name from any of the places in Portugal and Galicia named Portal. Jewish: unexplained.

Spanish and Portuguese: occupational name for a grower or seller of wheat, from Spanish and Portuguese trigo.

Bruno, from the latin "prunum"—prunes, or prune tree.This surname should not be associated with the Germanic "brun" - dark complexion - but with "brunna, prunja" - breast plate, cuirass.

Italian: from the personal name Carlo, Italian equivalent of Charles.

English (common in Devon and Cornwall), Spanish (Julián), and German: from a personal name, Latin Iulianus, a derivative of Iulius (see Julius), which was borne by a number of early saints. In Middle English the name was borne in the same form by women, whence the modern girl’s name Gillian.

Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and Galician: from the personal name Rafael (see Raphael). Jewish: variant spelling of Raphael.

ethnic name for a German, alemán. from the old personal name Alemannus, with the same meaning.

Spanish: habitational name from Carpio in Valladolid province or any of various places in southern Spain named with this word (a regional term meaning ‘hill’), as for example Carpio-Bernardo or El Carpio. Italian (Naples): from the personal name Carpio, a short form of Eucarpio.

Spanish: probably a nickname for someone with long limbs, from Spanish tirado ‘stretched’ (past participle of tirar ‘to pull’).

Spanish (Alegría) and Portuguese: nickname from Spanish alegría or Portuguese alegria ‘joy’, ‘happiness’. Castilianized form of Basque Alegia, a habitational name from any of the towns named Alegia in the Basque Country.

English, German, Dutch, French (Noé, Noë), Spanish (Noé), Catalan (Noè): from the Biblical personal name Noach ‘Noah’, which means ‘comfort’ in Hebrew. According to the Book of Genesis, Noah, having been forewarned by God, built an ark into which he took his family and representatives of every species of animal, and so was saved from the flood that God sent to destroy the world because of human wickedness. The personal name was not common among non-Jews in the Middle Ages, but the Biblical story was an extremely popular subject for miracle plays. In many cases, therefore, the surname probably derives from a nickname referring to someone who had played the part of Noah in a miracle play or pageant, rather than from a personal name.

Portuguese: from a patronymic form of the personal name Álvaro (see Alvaro).

Galician: habitational name from either of two places in Galicia named Ulloa (in A Coruña and Lugo provinces).

Spanish: habitational name from a place called Quevedo, such as Casa de Quevedo in Albacete province.

Spanish: habitational name from the city of Salamanca in western Spain, which is of pre-Roman foundation and obscure etymology. During the Middle Ages it was one of the leading cultural centers of Europe, and the surname may in some cases have been been a respectful nickname for someone who had visited the city.

Spanish: possibly of the same derivation as 2. Italian: from the personal name Polo, a variant of Paolo (see Paul).

Spanish: habitational name from Villalobos in Zamora province, named from villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + lobos, plural of lobo ‘wolf’.

Spanish (Montalván): habitational name from Montalbán in Lugo province, from an old spelling of the place name, or from various other places in Spain called Montalbán, in particular in Teruel.

Spanish (Bohórquez): habitational name from a minor place called Bohorques in Santander province.

Italian and Spanish: from the personal name Albino (see Albin). Italian: habitational name from a place in Bergamo named Albino.

Spanish: habitational name from Pareja in Guadalajara province.

Spanish: habitational name from Murga in Navarre province. Romanian (Murgã) and Greek (Mourgas): nickname meaning ‘dark-skinned’, from Romanian murg ‘black’. The Greek name was also used to denote a Greek of Aromanian origin. It is sometimes found in combinations such as Mourgagiannis ‘dark-skinned John’ or ‘Aromanian John’.

Spanish: unexplained.

Portuguese and Galician: habitational name from any of the many places named with Late Latin capralis ‘place of goats’, from Latin capra ‘goat’.

Galician (Patiño): from a diminutive of pato ‘duck’, hence a nickname, for instance denoting a person who waddled. Italian: unexplained.

Spanish: from peinado ‘combed’ (past participle of peinar ‘to comb’), hence a nickname for a well-groomed person or for someone with naturally smooth rather than curly hair.

Catalan and Italian: topographic name from Latin casa ‘house’ + nova ‘new’, or a habitational name from any of the many places named with these words.

Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places named Salcedo, so named from a collective form of salce ‘willow tree’. Compare Salce. Spanish: Castilianized variant of Basque Saratsu, a habitational name from a town so named, in Araba, Basque Country.

Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): topographic name for someone who lived by a lime tree, from lipa ‘lime tree’. As a Jewish name, it is also of ornamental origin. Jewish (from Poland): habitational name for someone from the village of Lipa, in Poland, named with lipa ‘lime tree’. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from a personal name, variant of Lipe.

Spanish and Portuguese: from the personal name Carlos, Spanish equivalent of Charles.

Portuguese: habitational name from any of various places called Brito. The place name is probably related to the root britt-. Compare Breton.

Spanish and Portuguese: nickname from Spanish, Portuguese garrido ‘elegant’, ‘handsome’, ‘comely’.

Spanish, Portuguese, and French: from the personal name Cosmé (see Cosma).

Portuguese and Catalan: variant (plural) of Costa. The Catalan form is a respelling (probably Castilianization) of Catalan Costes, of the same origin. Greek: from the personal name Kostas, a reduced form of Konstantinos (see Constantine).

topographic name for someone who lived in the lower part of a village, from Basque uri ‘settlement’ + be(h)e ‘lower part’. habitational name from Uribe, a town in Biscay province, Basque Country.

French: variant of Garon 1.

Basque: topographic name from Basque urki ‘birch tree’ + the collective suffix -di.

Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German: from the personal name Manuel, a short form of Emanuel. Catalan and Spanish: possibly also a habitational name from Manuel in Valencia province. Americanized form of any of various other European family names derived from Emanuel, for example the Greek patronymic Manouilidis.

Spanish (Alcázar): habitational name from any of various places, for example in the provinces of Ciudad Real, Cuenca, and Granada, named with the word alcázar ‘citadel’ or ‘palace’ (from Arabic al ‘the’ + qa?sr ‘fortress’, a borrowing of Latin castrum; compare Castro).

Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese: from the popular Christian personal name Salvador, meaning ‘Savior’ (Latin Salvator, a derivative of salvare ‘to save’), bestowed in honor of Christ. In some cases, possibly a Spanish, Asturian-Leonese, or Galician habitational name from any of the places called Salvador, in Valladolid, Lugo, and Asturies.

Galician: habitational name from Troncoso in Ourense province, from a derivative of tronco ‘tree trunk’, ‘stump’.

French (Huguenot): variant of Viau (see Vial). Southern Italian: from a short form of a personal name or surname ending with -via, for example Bellavia. Southern Italian: from a variant of Bia, a personal name of Greek origin, a calque of Latin Vita ‘life’.

Variant of Portuguese Esteves.

Spanish (common in Bolivia and Mexico) Leaños: presumably a derivative of Leaño (see Leano).

Spanish (from Basque): Spanish form of a habitational name from any of several Basque towns called Markina, in Araba and Biscay provinces.

Catalan (also Galbis): probably a Catalan equivalent of Spanish Gálvez (see Galvez).

Basque: habitational name from any of three places called Lizarraga, in Navarra and Alava and Guipuzcoa provinces, which are named from Basque lizarr (or le(i)zar) ‘ash tree’ + the locative suffix -aga.

Spanish: nickname for a dark-haired or dark-skinned man, from Old Spanish prieto ‘dark’, ‘black’. The adjective derives from the verb apretar ‘to squeeze or compress’, a metathesized form of apetrar, Late Latin appectorare ‘to hold close to the chest’ (from pectus, genitive pectoris, ‘chest’). The use as a color term seems to have derived originally from its application to rain clouds and fog.

Spanish: occupational or status name from Spanish merino, the title of a royal or seigneurial functionary who had wide legal and military jurisdiction over a district. The word is from Late Latin maiorinus, a derivative of maior. Compare Mayer and Mayoral.

Spanish (Pabón): variant of Pavón (see Pavon).

Spanish: from cabello ‘hair’ (Latin capillus, a collective noun), applied as a nickname for a man with a particularly luxuriant growth of hair, or perhaps ironically for a bald man.

Italian: from a dialect or old form of Lancia. Italian: from a short form of a personal name formed with the suffix -lanza or -lancia, as for example Francalanza and Giallanza. Spanish: from lanza ‘lance’, either a nickname for a soldier (lancer) or occupational name for a lance maker.

English, French, German, Italian (Venetian), Polish, Czech and Slovak (Fabián), and Hungarian (Fábián): from a personal name, Latin Fabianus, a derivative of the Roman family name Fabius. The personal name achieved considerable popularity in Europe in the Middle Ages, having been borne by a 3rd-century pope and saint. Americanized or Italianized spelling of Slovenian Fabjan or Fabijan (see 1). Jewish: adoption of the non-Jewish surname under the influence of the Yiddish personal name Fayvish.

Spanish (Narváez): habitational name from a place so called near Almagro, in Ciudad Real province.

English, southern French, and German: from a vernacular form of the Latin personal name (H)adrianus, originally an ethnic name denoting someone from the coast of the Adriatic (Latin Adria). It was adopted as a cognomen by the emperor who ruled ad 117–138. It was also borne by several minor saints, in particular an early martyr at Nicomedia (died c.304), the patron saint of soldiers and butchers. There was an English St. Adrian (died 710), born in North Africa; he was abbot of St. Augustine’s, Canterbury, and his cult enjoyed a brief vogue after the discovery of his supposed remains in 1091. Later, the name was adopted by several popes, including the only pope of English birth, Nicholas Breakspear, who reigned as Adrian IV (1154–59).

Scottish: from a pet form of the personal name Pat (short form of Patrick), formed with the Old French diminutive suffix -on.

Galician: of uncertain origin; probably related to the idiomatic expression a troche y moche ‘all over (the place)’, ‘left and right’; ‘on the off-chance’, and may be derived from trozar ‘to cut up’.