García (surname)

Garcia
Family name

García is the most common surname in most of the Spanish provinces
Region of origin Spain
Related names Garci, Garza, Garcia, Garces

García is a surname common throughout the Americas, the Philippines and Spain. There are several theories about its origin and history, but it is probably of Basque origin. It is attested since the high Middle Ages north and south of the Pyrenees (Basque speaking domain), with the surname (sometimes first name too) thriving especially on the Kingdom of Navarre and spreading out to Castile and other Spanish regions. The meaning points to the descriptive adjective 'the young' (variants Gartzi, Gartzia, Gartze, Gastea, modern Basque "gaztea"/"gaztia").[1] It is a surname of patronymic origin (Garcia was a very common first name in early medieval Spain). García is the most common surname in Spain (where 3.32% of population is named García) and also the second most common surname in Cuba. It has become common in the United States due to substantial Latin American immigration, and is now the 8th most common surname in the U.S.[2] In the 1990 United States Census, 'Garcia' was the eighteenth most reported surname, accounting for 0.25% of the population.[3] Quite rare before the 1st World War in France, except in French Pays Basque [4] Garcia is now the 14th most common surname in France (the 8th one for the number of birth between 1966 and 1990), due to an important Spanish immigration.[5][6] García is also the third most common surname amongst Spaniards in the United Kingdom.

Contents

People

Notable people who share this surname include:

Arts and entertainment

Criminal

Education

Historical

Law and politics

Literature

Military

Religion

Sports

Fictional characters

References

  1. ^ "Nombres". Euskaltzaindia (The Royal Academy of the Basque Language). http://www.euskaltzaindia.net/index.php?option=com_eoda&Itemid=204&lang=es&testua=Gar&view=izenak. Retrieved 2010-10-12.  Article in Spanish
  2. ^ "Frequently Occurring Surnames From Census 2000". census.gov. August 27, 2008. http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/freqnames2k.html. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
  3. ^ United States Census Bureau (9 May 1995). s:1990 Census Name Files dist.all.last (1-100). Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  4. ^ Garcia in France before WWI
  5. ^ Garcia : births (naiss.) in France from 1966 to 1990
  6. ^ List of the most common surnames in France

Further reading