Ruano
A Spanish surname that likely began as a nickname for someone with a roan or reddish-brown complexion or coloring.
The #6,240 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,361 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ruano is generally explained from Spanish roano, meaning 'roan' or reddish-brown, especially of an animal's coat, and by extension a person with a similar coloring or tone. Older onomastic works also connect it with a descriptive nickname, contrasting it with villano in some medieval usage notes, though that sense is less secure as a surname origin. The most likely surname sense is therefore a color-based nickname that later became hereditary.
History
The name appears in Spanish historical surname discussions alongside other color-based bynames such as Bermejo and Rosado. As with many Spanish surnames, a descriptive nickname could become fixed as a family name over time and then spread geographically. Today Ruano is established in Spain and also found in the Americas through Spanish migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Spanish naming traditions include many surnames that began as simple physical nicknames, and Ruano fits neatly into that old color-name pattern.
From the historical record
“lio ^ y familiar, guas *, page, criado, llacayo, amo ^, galeote, ruano (en contraposición de villano), mai- Y en ciertos monasterios era denominación de oficio ó car- go , quizá del proveedor , pues en escritui-a del 1203 , en el becerro de Santa María de Puerto , van firmando : Maerdo- mo don Johannis. Escanciano…”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos