Baltazar
A surname ultimately tied to the biblical name Balthazar, the traditional name of one of the Magi.
The #2,767 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,668 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Baltazar is a surname derived from the given name Balthazar/Baltasar, which entered European use through the biblical and legendary name of one of the Magi. The deeper root is usually traced to a Near Eastern form related to Akkadian or Aramaic elements meaning something like “Baal protect the king” or “God protect the king,” though older sources often gave looser Persian explanations. As a surname, it is typically a later hereditary form taken from an ancestor’s personal name.
History
The name spread across Christian Europe as a personal name, especially because of the Magi tradition, and later became a hereditary surname in several countries. The spelling Baltazar is common in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking areas, while Balthasar/Baltasar is also widely found in Germanic and Romance records. In the modern United States it often reflects Hispanic or Filipino family lines, though the surname can arise independently in different regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The three Magi names—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar—became popular in medieval Europe, even though the biblical text itself does not name them.
From the historical record
“211 Baltazar, m. III. Pers. war coQncil(?), 211 Balthasar, m. Ger. Eng. Pers. war council (?), 211”
— History of Christian Names