Salazar (surname)

Salazar is a surname meaning old farmhouse (from Basque Sarasaitzu [old], which then evolved to "Sarasaz," and then to the modern, Castillian form "Salazar").[1] The name originates from the valley of the same name: Salazar Valley, in Navarra, Spain. The surname started appearing during the early Middle Ages.

Its origins are also related to a certain noble family around the 10th century, the Salazars, that held a fief in the area.[2][3] It later also spread to the rest of the Basque Country, being specially common in Biscay during the 15th century. During that time, Lope García de Salazar, a famous writer, took part in the Reconquista of Cuenca, where he was granted a fief and founded a notable family. Some of his descendants took part in the Conquest of the Americas, thus spreading the surname through Spanish America; others intermarried many noble families, and the surname spread all through the Iberian Peninsula.

Salazar is a common in Hispanic America because there were a number of Salazars among the early Spanish conquerors and settlers.[2]

Salazar is also a common surname among Roma people.[3] Due to several censuses made in the Kingdom of Castile during the 14th and 15th centuries, every Castilian subject was forced to take a name and two surnames. The Roma, who used to call themselves only by a first name, decided to take established surnames to add prestige to their families.[4] They chose from among the oldest noble families, usually of Basque origin, thus it is extremely common to find Roma with surnames such as Heredia, Salazar, Mendoza, or Montoya.[5]

People

Fictional characters

References

  1. ^ Trask, R. L. (1997). The History of Basque. Routledge. p. 344. ISBN 0-415-13116-2.
  2. ^ a b Ruta, Garance Franke. "Julia Salazar Had a Trust Fund and Her Colombian Ancestors Were Catholic Elites". New York's Daily Intelligencer. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  3. ^ a b "Salazar". Supercable.es. Archived from the original on 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  4. ^ GAMELLA, Juan F.; GÓMEZ ALFARO, Antonio y PÉREZ PÉREZ, Juan (2012). Los apellidos de los gitanos españoles en los censos de 1783-85. Revista de Humanidades [en línea], n. 19, artículo 3, ISSN 2340-8995.
  5. ^ Diccionario de apellidos españoles, Roberto Faure, María Asunción Ribes, Antonio García, Editorial Eswpasa, Madrid 2001. ISBN 84-239-2289-8. Section III.3.8 page XXXIX.

Bibliography

  • Euskal Abizenak, vol 3, pp 100–102. Lizardi Multimedia, Zarauz, Spain. ISBN 978-7-999006-41-1
  • RAMOS MERINO, Juan Luis. "La caballería y la leyenda artúrica en Lope García de Salazar". En: Junto al Grial : miscelánea artúrica. Soria : Diputación Provincial, 2008, pp. 89–103.