List of common Spanish surnames explained

These are the lists of the most common Spanish surnames in Spain, Mexico, Hispanophone Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic), and other Latin American countries. The surnames for each section are listed in numerically descending order, or from most popular to least popular.

Spain

List of the most common Surnames in Spain.

  1. García – 1,378,000 people (3.48%) Pre-Roman, Basque.
  2. Fernández – 851,000 (2.15%) Son of Fernando; Germanic
  3. González – 839,000 (2.12%) Son of Gonzalo, from the Latinised form Gundisalvus; Germanic
  4. Rodríguez – 804,000 (2.03%) Son of Rodrigo, Roderic; Germanic
  5. López – 796,000 (2.01%) Son of Lope, Latin Lupus, meaning wolf
  6. Martínez – 788,000 (1.97%) Son of Martín, Son of Martino, Latin Martis, genitive form of Mars
  7. Sánchez – 725,000 (1.83%) Son of Sancho, Latin Sanctius
  8. Pérez – 709,000 (1.79%) Son of Pedro, Latin Petrus
  9. Martín – 459,000 (1.16%)
  10. Gómez – 440,000 (1.11%) Son of Gomes, Gomo, or Gomaro; Germanic
  11. Ruiz – 321,000 (0.81%) Son of Ruy, variation or short for Rodrigo
  12. Hernández – 305,000 (0.77%) Son of Hernando, variation of Fernando
  13. Jiménez – 293,000 (0.74%) son of Jimeno, Xemeno, origin god or Ximeno
  14. Díaz – 293,000 (0.74%) Son of Diego
  15. Álvarez – 273,000 (0.69%) Son of Álvaro, from Alvar; Germanic
  16. Moreno – 261,000 (0.66%) Brown-haired, tanned, brunet
  17. Muñoz – 241,000 (0.61%) Son of Munio; Pre-Roman
  18. Alonso – 206,000 (0.52%) Variation of Alfonso; Germanic
  19. Gutiérrez – 170,000 (0.43%) Son of Gutier, Gutierre, or Gualtierre; Germanic
  20. Romero – 170,000 (0.43%) (pilgrim) (can also be Italian in origin)
  21. Navarro – 158,400 (0.40%) Navarrese, "from Navarre"; toponym
  22. Torres – 134,600 (0.34%) Towers; toponym
  23. Domínguez – 134,600 (0.34%) Son of Domingo, from Latin Domenicus, Dominus, "master"
  24. Gil – 134,600 (0.34%) From older form Egidio; patronymic
  25. Vázquez – 130,000 (0.33%) Son of Vasco or Velasco
  26. Serrano – 122,700 (0.31%) "Highlander"
  27. Ramos – 118,000 (0.30%) Branches; meaning born during Christian festivity Palm Sunday
  28. Blanco – 118,000 (0.30%) "White"
  29. Sanz – 106,900 (0.27%)
  30. Castro – 102,900 (0.26%) "castle, fort, village". See castro and castrum
  31. Suárez – 102,900 (0.26%) Son of Suero or Suaro; unknown origin
  32. Ortega – 99,000 (0.25%) From Ortiga, nettle plant
  33. Rubio – 99,000 (0.25%) Blond, fair-haired; Latin Rubeus, meaning ruddy, reddish
  34. Molina – 99,000 (0.25%) (Mill, place with mills)
  35. Delgado – 95,000 (0.24%) "Thin man"
  36. Ramírez – 95,000 (0.24%) Son of Ramiro, Radamir, or Radmir; Germanic
  37. Morales – 95,000 (0.24%) Blackberry groves
  38. Ortiz – 87,120 (0.22%) Son of Orti; from Basque Ortún, from Latin Fortis, meaning strong one, or Latin Fortunius, meaning fortunate one
  39. Marín - 83,160 (0.21%) Latin Marinus, meaning marine
  40. Iglesias – 83,160 (0.21%) "Churches"

Source:[1] – Data from December 1999. (2004 data confirmation of top 25)

Mexico

List of the most common surnames in Mexico:[2]

  1. Hernández – 5,526,929
  2. García – 4,129,360
  3. Martínez – 3,886,887
  4. González – 3,188,693
  5. López – 3,148,024
  6. Rodríguez – 2,744,179
  7. Pérez – 2,746,468
  8. Sánchez – 2,234,625
  9. Ramírez – 2,070,723
  10. Flores – 1,392,707 – From Asturias meaning "Flowers"
  11. Gómez – 989,295
  12. Torres – 841,966
  13. Díaz – 811,553
  14. Vásquez – 806,894
  15. Cruz – 800,874 – From Castile meaning "Cross"
  16. Morales – 771,796
  17. Gutiérrez – 748,789
  18. Reyes – 738,320 – Meaning either "Kings" or "Royalty"
  19. Ruíz – 708,718
    1. Jiménez – 670,453 – From Basque Mendoza – 613,683 – From Basque meaning "Mountain"
  20. Aguilar – 611,904 – Meaning eagles nest, from Latin aquilare 'haunt of eagles'[3]
  21. Ortíz – 576,989 – From Basque or Latin, Son of Orti
  22. Álvarez – 557,332
  23. Castillo – 553,799 – Meaning "Castle"
  24. Romero – 540,922 – Can be either Spanish or Italian, and have multiple meanings.
  25. Moreno – 539,927
  26. Chávez – 517,392 – From Portuguese and Galician, from various places by the name, places derive name from Latin clavis “keys” or aquis Flaviis “at the waters of Flavius”[3]
  27. Rivera – 508,022 – Meaning either "Riverbank" or "Roadside"
  28. Ramos – 455,728
  29. Herrera – 451,226 – From the Latin word ferrāria, meaning either "Iron Mine" or "Iron Works".
  30. Medina – 431,518 – From the Arabic word madina, meaning city.
  31. Vargas – 427,854 – From Spanish and Portuguese, from various places called Vargas, meaning variously "thatched hut", "steep slope", or "fenced pastureland which becomes waterlogged in winter".[3]
  32. Castro – 419,216 – Meaning "village" especially the “hill forts” of the Galician area
  33. Méndez – 410,239 – Son of Mendo
  34. Guzmán – 392,284 – From Burgos
  35. Fernández – 385,741 – Son of Fernando
  36. Juárez – 384,929 – Regional variant of Suárez, meaning swineherd, from Latin suerius[3]
  37. Muñoz – 376,633 – Son of Muño[3]
  38. Ortega – 372,471
  39. Salazar – 368,231 – From Burgos, meaning in Basque "Old hall"
  40. Rojas – 365,457 – From various places in Burgos or Lugo called Rojas, meaning "red"[3]
  41. Guerrero – 361,557 – Meaning "Warrior"
  42. Contreras – 358,521 – "from the surrounding area", toponymic
  43. Luna – 357,578 – Can be any of Spanish, Italian, and Romanian, meaning "Moon".
  44. Domínguez – 348,182 - Son of Domingo, from Latin Domenicus, Dominus, "master"
  45. Garza – 335,829 – From Basque and Galician, Spanish meaning "heron", used as a descriptor or as part of a place name.
  46. Velásquez – 331,510 – Son of Velasco
  47. Estrada – 324,103 – From various places called Estrada, meaning "road", from Latin stata "via" denoting a paved way.[3]
  48. Soto – 306,227 – From various places called Soto, meaning "grove" or "small wood", from Latin saltus[3]
  49. Cortez – 301,954 – Meaning "courteous" or "polite"

Hispanophone Caribbean

Cuba

List of the most common surnames in Cuba:[4]

  1. Rodríguez – 301, 136
  2. Pérez – 300,189
  3. González – 262,311
  4. Hernández – 215,593
  5. García – 208,965
  6. Martinez – 148,674
  7. Diaz – 136,364
  8. Fernández – 134,470
  9. López – 127,525
  10. Álvarez – 101,010

Dominican Republic

List of the most common surnames in the Dominican Republic:

  1. Rodríguez – 225,321
  2. Pérez – 158,059
  3. Martínez – 141,259
  4. García – 137,124
  5. Reyes – 104,892
  6. Sánchez – 104,392
  7. Díaz – 95,106
  8. Peña – 94,396
  9. Jiménez – 92,978
  10. Ramírez – 92,863
  11. Hernández – 91,080
  12. Rosario – 89,630
  13. González – 85,757
  14. Santana – 81,973
  15. Núñez – 79,374
  16. Castillo – 78,338
  17. De la Cruz – 76,977 – Meaning "Of the Cross"
  18. Cruz – 64,613
  19. Guzmán – 63,073
  20. Gómez – 62,310
  21. Santos – 60,613 – A name of Christian origins, meaning "Saints".
  22. López – 59,566
  23. Fuentes – 58,518 – Meaning "Fountains".
  24. Vásquez – 56,149

Puerto Rico

List of the most common surnames in Puerto Rico:

  1. Sanchez - 128,384
  2. Rivera - 114,777
  3. Diaz - 107,640
  4. Rodriguez- 102,137
  5. Narvaez - 70,764
  6. Burgos - 68,522
  7. Colón - 64,692
  8. Vázquez - 62,659
  9. Ramos - 60,232
  10. Ortiz - 60,231
  11. Morales - 56,574
  12. Betancourt - 53,974
  13. Cruz - 52,117
  14. Santiago - 51,371
  15. Reyes - 48,780
  16. Perez - 48,461

Other Latin American countries

Guatemala

List of the most common surnames in Guatemala:

  1. Lopez - 371,525
  2. Garcia - 285,670
  3. Morales - 228,167
  4. Hernández - 222,755
  5. Pérez - 209,963
  6. González - 208,795
  7. Rodríguez - 135,978
  8. De León - 134,010
  9. Martínez - 123,186
  10. Castillo - 116,298
  11. Estrada - 115,252
  12. Marroquín - 113,961
  13. Gómez - 110,824
  14. Vásquez - 102,153
  15. Méndez - 98,462
  16. Reyes - 95,449

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Los 40 apellidos mas comunes en España (www.ociototal.com) . 2011-06-25 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080430161150/http://www.ociototal.com/recopila2/r_aficiones/apellidos.html . 30 April 2008 . dmy-all .
  2. Web site: Frequent Names in Mexico: Forebears.io . 2021-04-25 . dmy-all .
  3. Book: Hanks . Patrick . Dictionary of American Family Names . 2003 . Oxford University Press . 9780195188417.
  4. Web site: Cuba Genealogy Resources & Vital Records. forebears.co.uk.

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