Romero
A Spanish surname originally used for a pilgrim or for someone connected with rosemary.
The #115 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,480 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In Spanish, romero has long had two related senses: a pilgrim who makes a romería, and the rosemary plant. The first sense ultimately goes back to the medieval Latin idea of a "Roman" pilgrim, while the plant name comes through the same Romance word family and later became a common surname source. Because surnames often arose from nicknames, occupations, or local associations, Romero may have been given to a pilgrim, someone living near rosemary, or someone otherwise identified with the word.
History
The historical excerpts point especially to the "pilgrim" sense, a common medieval Spanish surname pattern tied to devotion and pilgrimage. Romero is now one of the most common Spanish surnames and is widely found across Spain and the Spanish-speaking Americas. It also appears in older records as a descriptive or devotional byname rather than a strict hereditary family name at first.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Spanish, romero can mean both "rosemary" and "pilgrim," which is why the surname has a pleasantly ambiguous double background.
From the historical record
“Moral, Manzano, Peral, Granado, Alamo, Encina, Robles, Pino, Espino, Acebo, Acebedo, Ciruelo, Nogueras, Olmo, Morera, Parra, Sarmiento, Viñas, Olivares, Mata, Romero, Aliaga, Melon, Trigo, Gal, Berza, Nuez, Limon, Tomate, Espárrago, Cebolla; o bien de los animales, como Caballo, Buey, Vaca, Toro, Becerra, Becerril…”
— Diccionario de los apellidos