What does "Gonzalez" mean?

[Ronald_C.Semone]

Many of the more common English last names have an obvious literal meaning (Miller, Smith, Baker, etc.). What about some of the more common Spanish last names (Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Guererra. Fenandez, etc.)? Do they have literal meanings? If not, why did they become so popular?

[KarlGrenze]

This has been discussed before, but in general, the “-ez” ending means “son of”. Of course, there are sometimes slight variations on the original name and how the derived last name looks like.

González = son of Gonzalo

Fernández = son of Fernando

Rodríguez = son of Rodrigo

Pérez = son of Pedro

Guerrera… Well, guerrero (which is also a last name) means warrior. It could also be the name of the town/region. We also have Herrero (equivalent to Smith), but it is less common. FWIW, I don’t find the last name Guerrera to be that common either.

[boytyperanma]

@Ronald_C.Semone

Many of the more common English last names have an obvious literal meaning (Miller, Smith, Baker, etc.). What about some of the more common Spanish last names (Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Guererra. Fenandez, etc.)? Do they have literal meanings? If not, why did they become so popular?

Son of gonzolo.

Gonzolo seams to have etymology connecting it to war or leadership. So maybe soldiers got nicknamed Gonzolo and that led to their children being Gonzalez?

[JRDelirious]

(Son of GonzAlo, not gonzolo) The -ez names are generally patronymics dating way, way back in the evolution of the language.

But of course, some of the names are actually descriptive words, as a quick run through a dictionary would give you for names such as Blanco, Guerra, Del Valle, Montes, Labrador, Valiente, etc. Trade-based names don’t seem as common in Castillian (but they may be in other Iberian languages) and you’re likelier to have toponymics - place/location names either general such as Cuevas, Ríos, Sierra, or location-specific such as De León, Zamora, Guadalupe, etc.

Spain’s PM Rodríguez Zapatero is, according to his compound family name, descended from a Rodrigo on Dad’s side and from a family of shoemakers on Mom’s.

[Bridget_Burke]

Another name with an unusual source is that of pioneering Texas explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.

Cabeza de Vaca was the son of Teresa Cabeza de Vaca y de Zurita. In 16th-century documents, his name appeared as “Alvar nuñez cabeza de vaca”. Cabeza de Vaca means “head of cow”. This surname was granted to his mother’s family in the 13th century, when his ancestor Martín Alhaja aided a Christian army attacking Moors by leaving a cow’s head to point out a small secret mountain pass for their use.

[Balthisar]

I met some government dude surnamed Cabeza de Vaca at a Lebanese restaurant in Leon, Mexico, a few years ago. His flotilla of Suburbans blocked the road, but his 10 body guards inside the restaurant did allow him to be quite accessible. I wish I could remember which government compartment he was a part of. Upon meeting him, my mind was mostly focused on, “really, your family name is cow-head?”

[Colibri]

@KarlGrenze

This has been discussed before, but in general, the “-ez” ending means “son of”.

It might be mentioned that the equivalent in Portuguese is “-es”: Rodrigues, Gomes, etc.

[John_Mace]

@Balthisar

I met some government dude surnamed Cabeza de Vaca at a Lebanese restaurant in Leon, Mexico, a few years ago. His flotilla of Suburbans blocked the road, but his 10 body guards inside the restaurant did allow him to be quite accessible. I wish I could remember which government compartment he was a part of. Upon meeting him, my mind was mostly focused on, “really, your family name is cow-head?”

It’s a rather famous family, if he’s part of it. From wikipedia:

Cabeza was born around 1490 into an hidalgo family, and as such was a member of the Spanish nobility without economic resources. Cabeza de Vaca was the son of Teresa Cabeza de Vaca y de Zurita. In 16th-century documents, his name appeared as “Alvar nuñez cabeza de vaca”. Cabeza de Vaca means “head of cow”. This surname was granted to his mother’s family in the 13th century, when his ancestor Martín Alhaja aided a Christian army attacking Moors by leaving a cow’s head to point out a secret mountain pass for their use. (In the prologue to La Relación, his account of his shipwreck and travels in North America, Cabeza de Vaca refers to his forefather’s service to the King, and regrets that his own deeds could not be as great.)

[Chefguy]

@Colibri

It might be mentioned that the equivalent in Portuguese is “-es”: Rodrigues, Gomes, etc.

It should be noted that there are Portuguese names that do have translatable meanings, most of them being Jewish families such as Oliveira (olive tree), Pereira (pear tree), Coelho (rabbit) and Carvalho (oak tree).

[KarlGrenze]

@Chefguy

It should be noted that there are Portuguese names that do have translatable meanings, most of them being Jewish families such as Oliveira (olive tree), Pereira (pear tree), Coelho (rabbit) and Carvalho (oak tree).

And the same thing does happen in Spanish: Rosario (rosary), Perales (pear trees), Olivar (olive tree), Montes (mountains), Torres (towers), Del Valle (of the valley), Flores (flowers), etc.

But the main point of the OP was for the most common last names, and the ones above, although may be seen commonly, are not, by far, the most common last names. The patronymics are the most common last names.

[astorian]

In English, the most common last names tend to come from either

1. Occupations (like Smith, Taylor, Weaver, Miller, Baker, Carpenter, etc.)
2. Physical descriptions (like Brown, Long, Short, White, etc.)
3. Your father or ancestor’s name (Johnson, Robertson, Williamson, etc.)
4. Where you lived (Woods, Fields, Hill, Rivers, etc.)

A very large number of the most common Spanish names fall into category #3, but there are plenty of names that fall into the other categories as well.

A lot of common Spanish last names ARE based on occupations. “Ferrer” and “Herrera” both come from the same root, and both translate essentially as “Smith.” In Spanish, a “Zapatero” is a shoemaker- so, if your name is Zapata, one of your ancestors may well have been a shoemaker. “Pastora” is “Shepherd,” “Molinero” (like the Italian “Molinaro”) is “Baker.” “Guerrero” is “soldier.”

Many other common last names are physical descriptions. “Moreno” is the same as “Brown,” “Blanco” is the same as “White,” etc.

And quite a few common Spanish last names tell where your ancestors lived. “Rivera” and “Rios” mean essentially the same thing as the English name “Rivers,” “Vega” means the same as “Meadows,” “Soto” is about the same as “Woods.”