Bustos
A Spanish surname most likely from a place name, and in some traditions linked to the word for a bust or torso-like sculpture.
The #2,129 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,119 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bustos is best understood as a Spanish surname taken from a place name, with the same form also connected in old Spanish word lists to busto(s), meaning a bust or sculpture of the upper body. The ultimate word behind that noun is Latin bustum, though the surname itself is usually treated as toponymic rather than a direct nickname. In other words, the name likely began as “someone from Bustos” or “someone associated with a place called Bustos.”
History
The surname appears in Spanish and Hispanic records and is found widely in the Spanish-speaking world today. The excerpts also point to a historical place or villa called Bustos, which supports a locational explanation. In some older naming lists, Bustos is grouped with other surnames derived from landmarks, place names, or descriptive nouns.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The word busto in Spanish normally means a bust or upper-body sculpture, which is why older writers sometimes glossed the surname by reference to sculpture terminology.
From the historical record
“Busca. Accion de buscar. Bustillos. Diminutivo de bustos, Bustos, Esculturas de medio cuerpo. Butron. Buitron.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos