Vicente
A surname taken from the given name Vicente, ultimately from Latin for “conquering” or “victorious.”
The #3,326 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,617 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Vicente is a surname formed from the personal name Vicente, the Spanish equivalent of Vincent. The name goes back to Latin Vincentius, from vincere, meaning “to conquer” or “to win,” so the underlying sense is “victorious.” In surname use, it usually means “descendant of or associated with someone named Vicente.”
History
The sources describe Vicente as one of several Spanish surnames that grew from common baptismal names. It appears in Spain early and naturally spread wherever Spanish naming traditions traveled, especially through Iberian and later Hispanic populations. In modern usage it remains much more common as a surname in Spanish-speaking countries than in English-speaking ones.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Latin root gave English the surname Vincent and the common given name Vincent.
From the historical record
“Rojo, Bermejo, Cano, Moreno, Prieto, Colorado, Pardo, Zarco, Dorado: estos, de algun nombre propio que era ordinario en la familia, como Vicente, Martin, Manuel, Domingo, i talvez de aluun mote o apodo que pasaba de padres a hijos, como Piernas, Barriga, Molinillo, Raposo, Guisado, Lanceta, Navaja, Puñal, Grasa…”
— Diccionario de los apellidos