Salazar (surname)

Salazar is a 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, Spain. Although northern Burgos is not currently a Basque-speaking region, the language was spoken there when the surname appeared there during the early Middle Ages.

Its origins are also related to a certain noble family, the Salazars, that held a fief in the area.[2][3] 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 the Americas, 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 a common in Latin America because there were a number of Salazars among the early Spanish conquerors and settlers.[2]

Salazar is also a common surname among Roma people.[3] 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. The Roma, who used to call themselves only by a first name, decided to take established surnames to add prestige to their families.[4] They chose from among the oldest noble families, usually of Basque origin, thus it is extremely common to find Roma with surnames such as Heredia, Salazar, Mendoza, or Montoya.[5]