Negrón
A Spanish surname likely from a nickname based on "negro," meaning "black" or a dark-complexioned person.
The #1,963 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,768 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical excerpt says Negrón is an augmentative form of Spanish negro, "black." In surname use, that would originally have described someone with dark coloring, dark hair, a swarthy complexion, or perhaps simply served as a nickname. The ending -ón often adds the sense of "big" or "more marked," so the name can be understood as "the dark one" or "the black-haired one."
History
The surname is found in the Spanish-speaking world and is especially familiar in the Caribbean and Latin America. Like many nickname surnames, it probably began independently in more than one place and later became hereditary. In modern use it is usually written without the accent in English-language records, though the Spanish form is Negrón.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The suffix -ón in Spanish often makes a word feel larger or more emphatic, so Negrón is effectively a stronger, more marked form of negro.
From the historical record
“Negrete. Individuo de una faccion antigua. Negron. Aumentativo de negro. Nerva. Sobrenombre de licinios, Coccego i Silicios. ¡lus- tres romanos. Cocceyo i Nerva XIII de los emperadores romanos, sucesor de Domiciano, i mui diferente de él, por su justicia i bondad,”
— Diccionario de los apellidos