Ureña
A Spanish surname most likely taken from a place-name, especially the town of Ureña in Valladolid, Spain.
The #3,261 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,900 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ureña is a Spanish habitational surname, meaning it originally identified someone who came from a place called Ureña. The best-known source is the town of Ureña in the province of Valladolid, so the surname is essentially a place-name turned family name. The ultimate origin of the place-name itself is less certain and may be older or pre-Roman in origin.
History
The surname is found in Spain and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, especially in regions shaped by Spanish migration to the Americas. It appears in Hispanic naming traditions as a hereditary family name rather than a descriptive nickname. In modern records it is usually written with the ñ in Spanish, though Urena is common in English-language and diaspora settings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the letter ñ is often dropped in English-language records, the same family may appear as both Ureña and Urena in official documents.