Carranza
A surname likely tied to the Basque place name Carranza, used for someone from that valley or locality.
The #1,235 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,802 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Carranza is best understood as a habitational surname, referring to someone from the place called Carranza in northern Spain, especially the valley of Carranza in Biscay. The name is usually treated as a regional place-name rather than a word with a transparent everyday meaning in modern Spanish. Older scholarship sometimes wandered into folk explanations, but the locational origin is the safest reading.
History
The surname appears in Spanish records and later spread widely in Spain and across the Spanish-speaking world. In the Americas it is found both among descendants of Spanish settlers and through later migration. The name also survives as a place name, which helps reinforce its toponymic character.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Carranza is also the name of a well-known valley in the Basque Country, so the surname and the place name reinforce each other.
From the historical record
“Caron Aumentativo de cara.. Grande de cara. Carranza. Cada una de las puntas de hierro que guar- necen la carlanca. —CARLANCA. Collar ancho de hierro o cuero mui fuerte con una punta de hierro hácia a fuera, para armar el pescuezo de los mastines contra las morde- duras de los lobos. El cuello de camisa o ropilla…”
— Diccionario de los apellidos