Toledo
A surname taken from the Spanish city of Toledo, originally marking someone as coming from that place.
The #1,841 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,854 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Toledo is a habitational surname from the city of Toledo in central Spain. The place-name itself goes back to Latin Toletum, the ancient name of the city. As a surname, it originally identified someone who came from Toledo or was otherwise associated with the city.
History
Spanish surnames from major cities and towns often spread widely through the Iberian Peninsula and into the Americas. Toledo is one of the best-known of these place-based surnames, and it appears both in Spain and in Spanish-speaking communities abroad. The name is also seen in Jewish and other Iberian family lines that adopted local surnames over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Toledo is not just a surname: it is also one of Spain’s most famous historic cities, long associated with bishops, craftsmen, and medieval royal history.
From the historical record
“Tollady. From Tolladine (?) ; a loc. n., Worcest. N.-Fr. De Toleta; Dch. Toledo; p.n. Tollemache, Tolmash. Fr. Toul- mouche; a p.n. Or from Toll- marsh ; a loc. n., Buckfastleigh, Devon; Toulemer, Norm. Tollemach in Roll of Battell Abbey.”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)