Gallegos
A Spanish surname meaning “from Galicia” or “a Galician,” originally used for someone from the northwest region of Spain.
The #486 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,516 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Gallegos is a Spanish regional surname built from Galicia, the name of the northwestern Spanish region, with the ending -os reflecting a plural or collective form. In origin it meant “the Galicians” or “people from Galicia,” and could identify someone who had moved away from that region. The deeper place-name Galicia ultimately comes from Latin Gallaecia, the Roman name for the territory.
History
The name is common in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world, and it was carried to the Americas through Spanish migration and colonization. In historical writing, forms like gallego/gallegos were often used both as a regional label and, sometimes, as a nickname for Spanish speakers from Galicia. The surname is especially well known in Latin America, where it remains frequent.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because gallego also means “Galician” in Spanish, the surname can be read almost exactly like an ethnic label rather than a family-name invention.
From the historical record
“Parguay (Paraguay), San-Miguel, Plata, Banda, Maldonado, Chili, Peru, Lima, Potosi, Callao, Truxillo, Bogotad, Bog- ota (Bogota), Amason, Andes, Sorata, Gallegos, Juan Fer- nandez. (Some apparently Geographical Names, which do not seem to be laid down in our Modern Atlases.)”
— A Grammar of American Surnames