Sepúlveda
A Spanish surname from a place name linked to a cave or hollow, originally identifying someone from Sepúlveda in central Spain.
The #1,810 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,553 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sepúlveda is a habitational surname taken from the Spanish town of Sepúlveda in Segovia. The place name is generally traced to Latin roots associated with a burial cave or hollow, often explained from "sepulcrum" meaning "tomb" or "grave." In surnames, it functions as a locational name for someone who came from that place.
History
The surname spread from medieval Spain into other Spanish-speaking regions, especially through migration to the Americas. It is well established in Hispanic naming traditions and is common today in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. In some cases the accent mark is kept in Spanish as Sepúlveda, while it is often omitted in English-language records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Sepúlveda is also the name of a municipality in Spain whose historic old town helped preserve the surname’s geographic identity.