Valdés
A surname of Spanish origin, most often linked to places beginning with Valde- or to the old toponymic form Valdés.
The #1,745 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,041 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Valdés is a Spanish surname. In older Spanish onomastic tradition, names like this are often tied to a place-name rather than to a literal descriptive word, and the accent in Valdés reflects the Spanish stress pattern. The form may be connected with a toponymic base in Valde- / Valdés-type place names, but the exact place or original meaning is not secure from the excerpts alone.
History
The surname is established in the Spanish-speaking world and appears in Iberian surname lists alongside many other place-based names. Its presence in modern census data shows continued use in Latin American and U.S. Hispanic communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Spanish accents are often dropped in English-language records, Valdés and Valdes are usually the same surname in practice.
From the historical record
“Luis T. de D. Campos Apolinario Escobedo Olegario Valdes Rosa Aqueveque — Il —”
— Diccionario de los apellidos