Heredia
A Spanish surname most often linked to the place name Heredia, probably from a word for a landed estate or inherited property.
The #2,061 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,637 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Heredia is best understood as a Spanish habitational surname, taken from a place called Heredia. The place-name is usually connected with medieval Latin heredita or heredium, words tied to inheritance, an inherited holding, or a patrimony. In plain terms, the name likely began as a label for someone from, or associated with, an inherited estate.
History
The surname is well established in Spain and the Hispanic world, and it also spread widely to Latin America through Spanish settlement and later migration. It is especially familiar as a Basque- and Castilian-area surname in older genealogical records, though it is not limited to those regions. Because the historical excerpts only mention the name in passing, the place-name explanation is the safest general reading.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The root behind Heredia is related to the English word heir, through the same inheritance idea.
From the historical record
“Skrtogensis (Arto-genesis, Genesis of Art), - Homo, Her- cus, Hasta, Heres (Haeres), Heredia, Honorato, Hiems, Hospes, Hosp6, Habes, Habet, Habe, Hujus, Hora, Host6, Hinc, Hanc, Hue, Heu (Alas!), Hironde (Hirundo, the Swallow).”
— A Grammar of American SurnamesNotable people named Heredia
- José-Maria de Heredia (1842–1905)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.