Bustamante
A Spanish surname likely taken from a place-name, meaning “bushy hill” or a similar wooded rise.
The #1,454 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,583 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bustamante is a Spanish surname of place-name origin. The name is generally explained as coming from a toponym built from Spanish/early Romance elements related to bush or scrub and a mountain or hill, so the literal sense is something like “bushy mountain” or “wooded hill.” The excerpts also show Bustamante as a hereditary surname tied to family seats in northern Spain, especially around Santillana and Castile.
History
Historical Spanish sources in the excerpts trace more than one Bustamante line, suggesting the surname arose independently from different places or family houses. By the early modern period it was established enough to appear in nobiliary and genealogical works, and it later spread widely through the Spanish-speaking world. It is now common in Spain and especially across Latin America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The historical excerpt notes that there was more than one Bustamante lineage, apparently unrelated to each other, which is a reminder that the same surname can have multiple local origins.
From the historical record
“Tránsito Vidal Emilio Bustamante Francisco Palacios Cárlos A. Portius Miguel Johmson Amador Maureira Jorje Nieto”
— Diccionario de los apellidos