Pizarro
A Spanish surname made famous by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, likely connected to a nickname or place name in Iberia.
The #4,755 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,465 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pizarro is a Spanish surname, but the exact origin is not securely established from the excerpted evidence. In Spanish surname tradition, it is often explained as a nickname or as a name taken from a place, but the underlying word history is not certain enough to state confidently here. The surname is best treated as Iberian in origin, with a meaning that remains somewhat disputed.
History
The name is especially well known because of Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Inca Empire in the 16th century. As a family name, it spread through Spain and then across the Spanish-speaking world, particularly in Latin America. The surname is now found in several countries and is moderately common in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Francisco Pizarro’s fame made Pizarro one of the best-known Spanish surnames in early colonial history.
From the historical record
“Emilio Astudillo Félix Pizarro L. Darío Romo Cárlos Duval Héctor Luis Leon”
— Diccionario de los apellidosNotable people named Pizarro
- Francisco Pizarro (1478–1541)
- Claudio Pizarro (b. 1978)
- David Pizarro (b. 1979)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.