Calvo
A Spanish and Italian surname originally meaning “bald,” often first used as a nickname for someone with little or no hair.
The #5,086 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,856 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Calvo comes from a Romance word for “bald,” ultimately from Latin calvus, “hairless” or “bald.” As a surname, it began as a nickname for a bald person or someone known for a shaven head. In medieval Spanish records, it could also function as a personal byname rather than a fixed hereditary surname.
History
The name is well established in Spain and also appears in Italy and other Romance-speaking areas. Historical Spanish discussion notes that Calvo was common and sometimes used as a personal name or byname in early documents, which helped it persist as a surname. It later spread through Spanish-speaking countries, where it remains relatively common.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Medieval Spanish writers sometimes referred to notable figures by the byname Calvo, and in some cases the descendants used a different patronymic surname instead.
From the historical record
“standing. CriAMOND. In Charters, De Calvo Monte. Chaumont, in the arrondissemeut of Argcntau in Normandy. The name in this orthography occurs in the Battel Roll.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom