Salazar (surname)

Arms of the Salazars

Salazar, sometimes spelled as Salasar, is a Basque surname meaning old hall (from Castilian Sala (hall) and Basque zahar (old)).[1] The name originates from the town of the same name: Salazar, in northern Burgos, Castile. Although nowadays northern Burgos is not a Basque-speaking region, it was during the early Middle Ages when the surname appeared.

Its origins are also related to a certain noble family, the Salazars, that held a fief in the area.[2] During the 10th century, the surname appears as mentioned in Navarre, where it spread and there even exists a Salazar Valley. It later also spread to the rest of the Basque Country, being specially common in Biscay during the 15th century. During that time, Lope García de Salazar, a famous writer, took part in the Reconquista of Cuenca, where he was granted a fief and founded a notable family. Some of his descendants took part in the Conquest of America, thus spreading the surname all through the Spanish Americas; others intermarried many noble families, and the surname spread all through the Iberian peninsula.

Salazar is also a common surname among Roma people and Jews.[2] Due to several censuses made in the Kingdom of Castile during the 14th and 15th centuries, every Castilian subject was forced to take a name and two surnames. Thus it is common to find Roma and Jews with surnames such as Heredia, Salazar, Mendoza or Montoya.

People

The following is a list of notable people with the surname Salazar:

References

  1. ↑ Trask, R. L. (1997). The History of Basque. Routledge. p. 344. ISBN 0-415-13116-2.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Salazar". Supercable.es. Retrieved 2009-09-20.

Bibliography