Rivera
A common Spanish surname meaning “riverbank” or “of the river,” originally a place-based name.
The #46 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 789 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Rivera comes from Spanish, where it means a riverbank, streamside, or land beside a river. It goes back to Latin riparia, from ripa meaning “bank” or “shore.” In surname use, it usually began as a name for someone who lived near a riverbank or came from a place called Rivera.
History
Rivera is widespread in Spain and the Spanish-speaking world, and it became especially common in the Americas through Spanish colonial migration. It is also found as a toponymic surname in the Iberian Peninsula, where multiple places and landscape features could generate the same family name. In English-language surname books, it is often grouped with other river-related names as a straightforward locational surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
It is one of the most common Hispanic surnames in the United States, ranking 46th in the 2010 census.
From the historical record
“Rival. Competidor. Rivera. Arrago. Rizo. Ensortijado o hecho rizo naturalmente. Ensorti- jado o dobieces que se hacen en el pelo o en algunas ro- p+s. Especie de terciopelo.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos