Loredo
A Spanish surname usually linked to a place-name, especially the village of Loredo in Cantabria.
The #4,530 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,431 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Loredo is generally understood as a habitational surname, taken from a place called Loredo. The name is associated with Loredo in northern Spain, and older reference works connect it with a Spanish toponymic line. The literal meaning of the place-name itself is not fully certain from these excerpts, so the safest explanation is simply that it means ‘from Loredo.’
History
The surname appears in Spanish noble and regional lineages, and the excerpts specifically mention a Ruy Pérez de Loredo as an early family founder in one branch. It also spread beyond Spain, which helps explain its presence in modern Hispanic populations and in the United States. Because the surname is place-based, multiple unrelated families could have adopted it independently.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is also the name of a Spanish village, which is a common source of Iberian surnames.
From the historical record
“Loredan. F. française du nom italien Loredano : de Loredo (États de Venise). Nom de famille vénitien qui a liasse en Franco avec les Vê- pres siciliennes de Casimir Dela- vigne. Après la tragédie sont venus l'opéra comique de Haydéc, et un ro-”
— Dictionnaire des noms (French surnames)