Miranda (surname)

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This article is about the surname Miranda. For the given name, see Miranda (given name). For other uses, see Miranda.

Miranda
Family Name
Pronunciation mer-ANN-dah
Meaning "the admired place";
"watchtower"
Region of origin Latin
Related names de Miranda
Popularity Behind the Name 
Wikipedia articles All pages beginning with Miranda

Miranda is a surname with two different origins. In the first, it is a locational surname derived from "Miranda", "Mirando", and "Amiranda", representing a variety of placenames called "Miranda" in Portugal, and Spain. The placename derived from the Latin mirandus ("wonderous", "lovely"), but within the context of a placename, the meaning becomes "the admired place". In the second, it is a derivative of the northeastern Spanish word miralla ("watchtower"). The surname Miranda is recorded as early as 1565 in London, England.[1] There are variants, including "de Miranda". Miranda is also common as a feminine given name.

The name Miranda comes from the Latin word "mirabilis" meaning admirable, marvelous.

First found in Asturias, birthplace of the Christian Reconquest of Spain from the Muslims. Miranda is a western Asturian name in origin, although it spread first throughout the peninsula as Christian Spain moved south, west and to the Americas. The Miranda family originally lived in one of the provinces of Oviedo, Lugo, Segovia, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

The more famous Mirandas of known Asturian origin are Venezuelan liberator General Francisco de Miranda and Spanish artists Carreno de Miranda and Sebastian Miranda. A Captain Miranda is recorded to have defended the breach in the siege of Rhodes. Among the early explorers of the New World was Luis de Miranda, who accompanied Pedro de Mendoza to the Río de la Plata in 1534. He was present at the founding of Buenos Aires in 1536.

It is the name of a mountain south of Tineo, the first Asturian town with a royal charter. The township south of Tineo and of Mt. Miranda is called Belmonte de Miranda. Either region is the likely origin of the first recorded person to use the surname, Alvar Fernandez de Miranda, who was rewarded with noble arms by King Ramiro for his heroic military efforts in the Battle of Clavijo which ended the tribute to the moors of 100 virgins.

"Miranda" is also used to mean "a beautiful site" and a "watchtower." This likely explains the appearance of the name in southern regions such as Miranda del Castaner and Miranda de Ebro.

Story of the Mirandas from Asturian Mythology: According to the story, one day while walking through the woods this man met a beautiful woman, a woman more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen before. Soon after, they were married and had two children, a boy and a girl. Then one day the woman went to privately bathe in the river. She thought she was by herself and so she transformed into her true form, a large snake-like creator called a Sierpe. But she wasn't alone, as her husband had been watching her. When she realized this she was shocked and ashamed, so she grabbed her two children under her arms and ran away. While running away she dropped the girl into the river and she floated away. This girl would then be found by another family and adopted. When she became an adult she eventually married a man who was the first Miranda.

People with the surname or its variants include:

[edit] Arts and entertainment

Contents
  • Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian singer and motion picture star, popularly known for wearing fruit headdresses
  • Juan Carreño de Miranda, Spanish painter (1614-1685)
  • Juan García de Miranda (1677-1749) Spanish painter, appointed Painter to the King
  • Pedro Rodriguez de Miranda (1696-1766) Spanish painter of the late-Baroque period, nephew of Juan Garcia de Miranda, and related to several other de Miranda artists

[edit] Sports

[edit] Other occupations

[edit] References

  1. ^ Surname Miranda. surnamedb.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
WP Anthroponymy notice This page or section lists people with the surname Miranda. If an internal link for a specific person referred you to this page, you may wish to add the given name(s) to that link.
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