Pacheco
A Spanish surname most likely tied to an old personal name of Roman or Latin origin, later used as a hereditary family name.
The #419 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 3,977 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as coming from an old personal name, probably from Latin or Romano-Hispanic roots. Nineteenth-century writers connected it with forms such as Paciacus or Paciecius, suggesting an ancient personal name that later passed into a family surname. The exact path is not entirely secure, so the safest reading is that Pacheco arose as a patronymic from an earlier given name rather than from a common noun.
History
Pacheco is a well-known Spanish surname with deep roots in Iberian history. It became prominent in medieval and early modern Spain, and the name spread widely through Spain’s overseas empire, especially to Latin America and parts of the Philippines. The surname also appears in place names, which sometimes helped reinforce its use as a hereditary family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A Sicilian place-name called Pacheco was created in the early 17th century and later gave a princely title to a relative of the Marquis of Villena.
From the historical record
“OviLO. Ovilio, en latin pastor de ovejas. Pacheco. Ambrosio de Morales discurrió acer- ca de los Paciacus ó Pacieciis , nombres españo- les de la época romana, que citan escritores grie- gos y latinos ^ .”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos