González
A Spanish surname meaning “son of Gonzalo,” ultimately tied to an old Germanic personal name.
The #6,225 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,187 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Gonzalez is a Spanish patronymic surname formed from the given name Gonzalo, with the -ez ending meaning “son of.” The personal name Gonzalo goes back to a medieval Germanic name, usually explained as containing the element gonz- / gund- meaning “battle,” though the exact reconstruction is debated. In plain terms, the surname originally meant “descendant of Gonzalo.”
History
The name is common throughout Spain and later spread widely across Latin America through Spanish colonization and migration. In English-language records it often appears without the accent as Gonzalez, while the more standard Spanish spelling is González. The GONSALEZ form is a simplified or Anglicized spelling that reflects pronunciation rather than standard orthography.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The -ez ending in Spanish surnames is one of the clearest clues that a name began as a patronymic, similar in function to English -son.