Quevedo
A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place name called Quevedo, rather than to the word itself in modern use.
The #4,404 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,287 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Quevedo is best understood as a habitational surname, meaning originally "from Quevedo" or "of Quevedo." The name is usually linked to a place-name in Spain, though the deeper origin of that place-name is not certain from the excerpts alone. The older sources also show it as a family or lineage name associated with an ancestral house called Quevedo.
History
The excerpts note that the lineage was said to begin at Quevedo, with early bearers recorded in Spanish genealogical writing. The surname is well known in the Spanish world, and it also appears in the broader Hispanic diaspora, including the United States. A famous bearer was the Spanish Golden Age writer Francisco de Quevedo, which helped make the name widely recognized.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is famously associated with Francisco de Quevedo, one of Spain’s best-known Baroque writers and satirists.
From the historical record
“Quevedo. Singular de quevedos.—Quevedos Jentes con armaduras. Quijada. La parte o hueso de la cabeza del animal en que están encajadas las muelas ¡ dientes.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos