Tirado
A Spanish surname most likely from a nickname or descriptor based on the verb *tirar*, with senses ranging from “pulled” or “drawn out” to “thrown down” or “exposed.”
The #2,685 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,024 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tirado comes from Spanish *tirar*, meaning “to pull,” “to throw,” or “to draw,” with *tirado* as its past participle. The surname was likely first applied as a descriptive byname, and older writers also suggested senses such as a person who was “set apart,” “cast out,” or possibly an abandoned child. Because the historical explanations are not fully consistent, the safest reading is that it began as a nickname drawn from one of several related meanings of the word.
History
The surname is well established in Spain and later spread widely across the Spanish-speaking world, especially through colonial-era migration to the Americas. In modern usage it is common in Latin American countries and appears frequently in the United States among Hispanic families. Some 19th-century scholars linked it to low-status or foundling-related nicknames, but that interpretation is not certain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because *tirado* can mean several different things in Spanish, the surname has attracted more than one folk explanation over time.
From the historical record
“Tinajero. El que hace las tinajas. Tirado. El acto i efecto de reducir a hilo los metales. Tiron. Bisoño. Accion i efecto de tirar con violencia. Estiron. «De un tiron.» Modo adverbial. De una vez, de un golpe.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos