Barrios
A Spanish surname meaning “neighborhoods” or “districts,” originally from a place name or local area called a barrio.
The #1,067 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 9,392 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barrios is the plural of Spanish barrio, meaning a neighborhood, ward, or district. The word ultimately goes back to Late Latin barrum or a related Romance form used for an outer or separate quarter of a town. As a surname, it most likely began as a habitational or locational name for someone who lived in, or came from, a particular barrio or place called Los Barrios.
History
The surname is common in the Spanish-speaking world and is especially frequent in Spain and Latin America. In Spanish naming practice, plural place-based surnames are often inherited family names rather than literal descriptions. Related forms and place names such as Los Barrios have helped keep the surname widespread.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Barrios is also the name of several towns and districts in the Spanish-speaking world, which helped reinforce it as a surname.
From the historical record
“Barrio. La parte en que se dividen los pueblos grandes. Barrios. Plural del anterior. . Barron. Planta gramínea. Barros. La masa que resulta de la union de tierra i agua. Granos en la cara.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos