Uribe
A Basque surname most likely taken from a place name, used by families from northern Spain and later carried widely to the Americas.
The #1,448 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,545 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Uribe is generally understood as a Basque place-based surname. The opening element ur- is a common Basque root meaning “water,” and many surnames beginning with Ur- come from local landscape names in the Basque Country. The second element is often explained as a place suffix or topographic ending in older Basque toponyms, so the name likely began as “someone from Uribe” or from a locality so called.
History
The surname is strongly associated with the Basque region of northern Spain, and later appears in Spanish and Latin American family histories. The excerpts you provided also show it being discussed among noble or lineal surnames in older genealogical writing, which suggests long-standing use in prominent families. In modern times it is especially familiar in the Spanish-speaking world, including the Americas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older genealogical sources sometimes connect Uribe with the compound form Uribe-Salazar, reflecting efforts to preserve both a place-linked surname and a family line.
From the historical record
“ligarte, ülzurrun, Ulloa, Unceta, Ungaro,ün- gría, Unzaga, Uña, Urbina, Urcullo, L-'riarte, üribarri, Uribe, ürquiza, Urra, Urraca, Urrea, Ur- réjola, Urríes, Urrutia, Usoz , Ustarroz , Utrera, Utrilla , Yaamonde , Valdeavellano , Yaldenebro, Valbuena, Yalcarce , Valcárcel , Valdecañas , Val- deon, Valderrábano…”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos