Orellana
A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place-name, with some older writers linking it to a descriptive root connected to ears or the ear-shaped fruit of the wild hazel.
The #1,319 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,585 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Orellana is generally treated as a Spanish surname from a place-name, especially the town of Orellana in Extremadura. Older etymological notes also connect it with Spanish oreja, meaning “ear,” or with a related descriptive idea, but the place-name explanation is the safer one for a family surname. The underlying Latin root is auricula, “little ear,” which produced forms like oreja in Spanish and related Romance words.
History
The surname is best known in Spain and the Hispanic world, and it spread to the Americas with Spanish migration. It appears in the name of the explorer Francisco de Orellana, who became famous for descending the Amazon River in the 1540s. In modern usage it remains a fairly recognizable Spanish-language surname, though not among the most common.
Origin
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Fun fact
The explorer Francisco de Orellana gave his name to the Amazon River’s early European history, after the journey that made him famous.
From the historical record
“mal que tiene mui grandes las orejas. Orellana. Archiote Lo que está a la orilla. Orero. El que comercia en oro. Oreste. Hijo de Agamenon 1 Clitennestra, a quien se metieron las furias en el cuerpo por haber dado muerte a”
— Diccionario de los apellidos