Cárdenas
A Spanish surname most likely from a place name meaning “thistle patch” or “field of thistles.”
The #418 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 3,976 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Cárdenas is a Spanish surname that most likely began as a locational name, from a place called Cárdenas or from the Spanish word cardo, meaning “thistle.” The related form in the excerpt glosses it as ground or fields covered with thistles, which fits a landscape-based surname. The deeper root is Latin carduus, “thistle.”
History
The surname is well established in Spanish-speaking regions and later spread widely through the Hispanic world and into the Americas. It is also found as a place name in Spain and across former Spanish territories, which helped the surname travel. Because the excerpt is brief and not a full dictionary entry, the exact local origin may vary by family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Spanish place-name and surname formation, thistle imagery is common enough that several related surnames and toponyms point back to cardo.
From the historical record
“Cardal. Huertos sembrados de cardas. Cardenas. Los que som de coler amoratados. Carderias. Terrenos poblados de cardos. Cardillo. Planta compuesta de comestibles.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos