Coronel
A surname that likely began as a nickname or status name from the word for a military colonel.
The #4,582 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,864 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Coronel is transparently connected to the Spanish word coronel, meaning a military colonel or regimental commander. The word ultimately goes back to Latin roots related to a "crown" or "garland," but as a surname it most likely arose from the title itself rather than from the older literal sense. In Spanish naming practice, such titles and offices sometimes became hereditary surnames, either from an ancestor who held the post or as a descriptive nickname.
History
The historical excerpts show Coronel being treated as an established Spanish surname by at least the 12th and 13th centuries, though the older forms in the records are not always easy to separate from similar names such as Cornejo or Cornelio. By the early modern period it was well enough known to appear among families using fixed surnames. In the modern world it is especially common in Spanish-speaking countries and also appears in the United States through Hispanic migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early Spanish scholars noted that surnames could arise from offices, ranks, and titles, and Coronel was one of the examples they used.
From the historical record
“dades i los títulos que tuvo alguno de los antepasados, fue- ron tambien una fuente en que diversas familias buscaron su apellido, como Alcalde, Juez, Merino, Alcaide, Coronel, Abad, Prior, Conde, Marquez, Baron, no faltaron tampo- cos personas a quienes se dió apellido por alguna accion ilustre o algun grande…”
— Diccionario de los apellidos