Vidales
A Spanish surname most likely connected to the personal name Vidal, ultimately from Latin roots meaning “life.”
The #8,697 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 81,809 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Vidales is best understood as a Spanish family name related to the given name Vidal, which comes from Latin Vitalis, meaning “vital” or “of life.” In medieval Spanish usage, surnames built from personal names often marked a person as “son of” or “belonging to” someone with that name. The form Vidales may reflect a plural or family-line formation from Vidal rather than a direct literal word meaning.
History
The excerpted source places Vidales alongside Vidal and other medieval name forms, which supports the idea that it belongs to the wider Vidal/Vitalis name family. Surnames of this type spread through Spain during the Middle Ages and later became hereditary. Today Vidales is found especially in Spanish-speaking communities, including in the Americas.
Origin
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Fun fact
The same Latin root behind Vidales also lies behind the common Christian name Vitalis and the idea of “vitality.”
From the historical record
“drezj Pedre^ Pedreiz, Peidrez , Peirez, PiDAL. Vitalisj Vidales, Vidal. Pinol. Pinniolus, nombre muy común en la Edad Media , derivado de pinna , peña. Don Pi- nol, firmante de escritura de 1165, en el tumbo viejo de Sobrado.”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos