Ceja
A Spanish surname most likely from a word for the eyebrow, originally a nickname or descriptive name.
The #2,078 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,721 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ceja is a Spanish word meaning “eyebrow,” and the surname most likely began as a nickname for someone with a notable brow or eyebrow feature. In Spanish surname formation, words for body features often became hereditary family names over time. The word ultimately goes back to Latin, though the exact path from the common noun to the surname is not always documented in detail.
History
The surname is found in Spanish-speaking areas and later spread widely through migration to the Americas, especially Mexico and the southwestern United States. As with many descriptive surnames, it may have arisen independently in more than one place. Modern bearers in the U.S. reflect the broader history of Spanish and Mexican surname transmission in North America.
Origin
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Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Spanish, ceja still means “eyebrow,” so the surname preserves a very direct everyday word as a family name.