De Paz
A surname built on the Spanish phrase for “of peace,” often found as a devotional or honorific name.
The #7,995 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,630 Americans shares it.
Etymology
De Paz is a Spanish surname formed from the preposition de, meaning “of,” and paz, meaning “peace.” In literal terms it means “of peace,” and it may have begun as a devotional expression, a nickname, or a name attached to a religious title or place-name. The underlying word paz comes from Latin pax, pacis, “peace.”
History
Surnames of this pattern are found in Spanish-speaking communities and in descendants of Spanish colonial and later migration. In some cases, names beginning with de were once associated with noble-style or locational naming, but many later became hereditary family names without that original social meaning. De Paz is also seen in Jewish and Sephardic contexts, where Spanish-language surnames were adopted and preserved.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it is built from an everyday Spanish word, the name is easy to recognize but can have several historical pathways rather than just one.