Corrales
A Spanish surname that most often means “from the corrals” or “by the animal pens.”
The #3,184 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,207 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Corrales is the plural of Spanish corral, meaning an enclosure, yard, or pen for animals. As a surname, it was usually formed from a place-name or topographic label referring to someone who lived near corrals or in a settlement known by that name. The older sources also note the surname as a collective/locality-based form, which fits this explanation.
History
Spanish surnames built from place-names and landscape features were common, and Corrales belongs to that pattern. The name spread throughout Spain and later to Latin America through migration and colonial-era settlement. In the United States, it is now most common among families of Hispanic origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root corral also survives in English, where it entered through Spanish in the American West.
From the historical record
“Corrales. Plural del anterior. Correa. La tira larga i delgada de cuero que sirve para atar o ceñir alguna cosa. ' Gorreal. La piel curtida con que $e hacen correas.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos