80+ Hispanic Last Names and Meanings

Why Hispanic Last Names?

Many people confuse Hispanics as a separate race. Only a few know the identity of Hispanic communities. Hispanics are people with Spanish ancestry, or their language has a Spanish origin.

The term Hispanic is generally used in America. It acts as an identifier of the communities of Spanish descendants in the country. A striking aspect of diversity among Hispanics is their names and .

The majority of Hispanic surnames are derived from the original Spanish surname. You might also come across many two-last names for a Hispanic first name.

In such cases, the first surname is the father’s, and the mother’s surname comes second. Hispanics follow patronymic traditions. During the marriage, the woman exchanges her mother’s surname with her husband’s.

Unlike one-word surnames, these two-last names for Hispanics lack a justifiable meaning. You will discover a variety of Hispanic last names in this article. You will also learn the meanings of these surnames, helping you become familiar with the community and the culture.

If you are looking for names from other nationalities, you might enjoy checking out the articles on Mexican Last Names and Spanish Baby Names.    

Common Hispanic Last Names

1. Aceves (Spanish origin) – likely a habitational surname based on the region of Acebo in western Spain. 

2. Aguado (Spanish origin) – meany ‘watery’. 

3. Aguilar (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘from the eagle’s lair’.

4. Alavez (English and Spanish origin) – meaning ‘son of Alave’.  

5. Alcaraz (English and Spanish origin) – is probably based on a region in Spain, in the province of Albacete. 

6. Alcazar (Spanish origin) – derived from the Latin root ‘castrum’, meaning ‘castle’.  

7. Aldaba (Spanish origin) – a common Basque surname based on a region in Navarra.  

8. Aldaz (Basque origin) – a typical Spanish surname based on a town in the Basque country. 

9. Alejo (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘very distant’ or ‘alienate’. 

10. Alfaro (Spanish origin) – a habitational surname based on a place named Alfaro, La Rioja. 

11. Almanza (English and Spanish origin) – a habitational surname based on a province in Burgos in Spain. 

12. Alvarez (Spanish origin) – a variant of Álvarez, meaning ‘child of Alvaro’.

13. Andujar (Spanish origin) – is a Spanish municipality in Andalusia, Spain.  

14. Avalos (Spanish origin) – is a habitational surname based on the place named Ábalos in La Rioja, Spain.

15. Avila (Spanish and Galician origin) – derived from the Latin term ‘avis’, meaning ‘bird’. The name is also related to Ávila, a Spanish province, and a city. 

16. Ayala (Spanish and Basque origin) – is based on a place called Álvara in the Basque Country. 

17. Betancourt (French origin) – a variant of Bettencourt, derived from the Germanic terms’ berto’ and ‘cort’, meaning ‘bright court’. 

18. Camacho (Spanish origin) – derived from the Celtic term ‘camb’, meaning ‘bent’ or ‘twisted’. 

19. Cueva (Spanish and English origin) – meaning ‘cellar’ or ‘cave’.  

20. Diaz (Spanish origin) – a variant of Díaz, is a patronymic related to the name Diego. 

21. Fonseca (Spanish and Portuguese origin) – meaning ‘dry well’. 

22. Gallegos (Spanish origin) – derived from ‘gallegos’, meaning ‘Gallician’. 

23. Garcia (possibly of Basque origin) – related to the Spanish name García, meaning ‘bear’ or ‘young’. 

24. Gonzalez (Spanish origin) – a variant of González, meaning ‘child of Gonzalez’. 

25. Guzman (Gothic origin) – related to the Spanish surname Guzmán, referring to a village in Spain.

26. Hernandez (Spanish origin) – a variant of Hernández, meaning ‘child of Hernando’. 

27. Izquierdo (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘left’.

28. Juarez (Spanish origin) – derived from Juárez, related to Suárez, meaning ‘child of Suero’.

29. Lopez (Spanish origin) – a variant of López, meaning ‘child of Lope’. 

30. Maldonado (Spanish origin) – probably a variant of McDonald, meaning ‘son of Donald’. 

31. Marroquin (Spanish origin) – related to Marroquín, meaning ‘Morrocan’. 

32. Martinez (Spanish origin) – a variant of Martínez, meaning ‘child of Martin’.

33. Munoz (Spanish origin) – a variant of Muñoz, meaning ‘child of Muno’. 

34. Orozco (Basque origin) – is probably a habitational surname based on a municipality in Biscay. 

35. Perez (Spanish or Hebrew origin) – meaning ‘child of Pedro’ in Spanish, and referring to the father of Hezron in the Hebrew Bible. 

36. Quijada (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘jaw’. 

37. Ramirez (Spanish origin) – a variant of Ramírez, meaning ‘child of Ramiro’. 

38. Reyes (Spanish origin) – probably meaning ‘king’.

39. Rojas (Spanish origin) – derived from ‘rojo’, meaning ‘red’ or ‘communist’.

40. Rubio (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘blonde’. 

41. Ruiz (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘child of Ruy’.

42. Salas (Spanish origin) – derived from the term ‘sala’, meaning ‘village’ or ‘human settlement’. 

43. Salinas (Spanish origin) – an occupational surname for a salt mine worker. 

44. Sanchez (Spanish origin) – a variant of Sánchez, meaning ‘child of Sancho’. 

45. Santana (Spanish origin) – refers to the biblical figure Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary. 

46. Sosa (Spanish origin) – derived from the Latin root ‘saxa’, meaning ‘rocks’. 

47. Tapia (Basque origin) – a habitational surname based on a place region in Asturias, Spain. 

48. Vargas (Spanish origin) – derived from the Spanish term ‘varga’, meaning ‘steep slope’.

49. Vazquez (Galician orig in) – a variant of Vásquez, meaning ‘child of Belasco’.

50. Velazquez (Spanish origin) – derived from Velázquez, meaning ‘child of Velasco’.

Rare Hispanic Last Names

51. Andres (Spanish origin) – derived from Andrés, further related to the Greek root Andréas, meaning ‘manly’ or ‘courageous’. 

52. Barbero (Spanish and English origin) – meaning ‘barber’. 

53. Guerrera (Spanish, Catalan, and Asturian origins) – meaning ‘female warrior’.

54. Ignacio (Spanish origin) – derived from the Latin root ‘ignis’, meaning ‘fire’. 

55. Lago (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘a water body’. 

56. Lanzo (Italian and English origin) – probably related to the English name Lance, meaning ‘land’. 

Hispanic Last Names With History

57. Allende (Spanish origin) – likely a habitational surname based on the region in northern Spain known as Allande. Isabel Allende is a famous novelist of Hispanic descent. 

58. Calderón (Spanish origin) – derived from the Latin root ‘caldāria’, meaning ‘cooking pot’. Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, popularly known as Frida Kahlo, was a famous female painter.  

59. Cavazos (Spanish origin) – derived from the Gallician root ‘cabazo’, meaning ‘granary’ or ‘barn’. Richard Edward Cavazos was the first Hispanic to earn the rank of a four-star general in the US Army.

60. Chavez (Spanish origin) – related to Chávez, further derived from the term ‘chaves’ and means ‘keys’. Cesario Estrada Chavez was one of the most famous civil rights activists of Hispanic descent. 

61. Clemente (Spanish, Portuguese, and Tagalog origin) – meaning ‘merciful’. Roberto Clemente was the first Hispanic baseball player inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

62. Cortez (Spanish origin) – a variant of Cortés, meaning ‘polite’. Alexandria Oscasio-Cortez is the youngest woman elected to Congress in the USA. 

63. Estefan (Greek origin) – related to the name Stephen, meaning ‘garland crown’. Gloria Estefan is a famous Hispanic actress, businesswoman, and singer. 

64. Huerta (Spanish origin) – derived from the Latin term ‘hortus’, meaning ‘garden’. Dolores Huerta is a notable civil rights activist and labor leader. 

65. Lehtinen (Finnish origin) – related to the term ‘lehti’, meaning ‘leaf’. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a politician and first Hispanic woman to earn a seat in the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives.   

66. Lovato (English and Italian origin) – from the Latin root ‘lupus’, meaning ‘wolf’. Demetria Devonne Lovato is a famous singer, songwriter, and actress. 

67. Moreno (Spanish origin) – derived from ‘moreno’, meaning ‘dark’. Rita Moreno is an actress, singer, and the first Hispanic woman to win an Academy Award.

68. Ochoa (Basque origin) – derived from ‘otsoa’, meaning ‘wolf’. Ellen Ochoa is a research engineer and an astronaut at NASA. She is the first Hispanic woman to go to space. 

69. Salazar (Spanish and Basque origin) – meaning ‘old hall’. Ruben Salazar was a Hispanic civil rights activist and journalist who championed the cause of the Chicano community. 

70. Sotomayor (Spanish origin) – based on a region in Galicia. The surname is also based on the Galician terms’ souto’ and ‘maior’, meaning ‘larger forest’. Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic to become a United States Supreme Court judge. 

71. Torres (Spanish and Portuguese origin) – meaning’ towers’. Dara Torres is one of the US’s most celebrated professional female swimmers, winning 12 Olympic medals. 

72. Vivero (Spanish origin) – probably based on the city of Viveiro in Spain. Jovita Idar Vivero was a journalist, civil rights worker, and political activist who fought for the cause of women’s rights and Mexican immigrants. 

Hispanic Last Names With Meanings From Nature

73. Figueroa (Galician origin) – derived from the Latin root ‘ficāriā’, meaning ‘fig tree’.

74. Flores (Spanish and Portuguese origin) – meaning ‘flower’.

75. Fuentes (Spanish origin) – derived from ‘fuente’, meaning ‘spring’ or ‘fountain’. 

76. Ibarra (Basque origin) – derived from the term ‘ibar’, meaning ‘valley’. 

77. Montes (Spanish origin) – a habitational surname meaning ‘mountains ‘.

78. Navar (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘to swim’. 

79. Olmeda (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘elm grove’. 

80. Prado (Spanish origin) – meaning ‘pastures’. 

81. Rivera (Latin origin) – derived from ‘rivus’, referring to a small water body, like a small stream or brook.  

82. Sandoval (Latin origin) – meaning ‘newly cleared grove’, also based on the Spanish province of Burgos.

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