Obregón
A Spanish surname most likely tied to a place-name, with roots in northern Spain.
The #5,630 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,024 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Obregón is a Spanish surname that most likely began as a locational name, referring to someone from a place called Obregón. The name is associated with northern Spain, especially Cantabria, where the place-name is found. The deeper pre-Roman or Basque-based meaning of the place-name is not certain, so the surname is best explained conservatively as deriving from that locality rather than from a securely known literal root.
History
The surname appears in Spanish naming traditions and is especially associated with the Iberian north. It is best known internationally through Mexican president Álvaro Obregón, which helped make the name familiar far beyond Spain. In the Americas, the surname spread through Spanish colonial migration and later movement within Spanish-speaking communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A notable modern bearer was Álvaro Obregón (1880–1928), president of Mexico from 1920 to 1924.
From the historical record
“ruela, Xeira, Xio, Xoblejas, Xogales , X^'oguera, X'ogueras, Xombela, X^'oriega, Xosti, X'ovales, Xovella, Xueros, Obando, Obeso, Obregon, Ocam- po, Ocaña, Ocio, Ochando, Odena, Oderiz , Ojeda, Olavarrieta, Olave, Olalde, Olamendi, Olano, 01a- zábal, Olbes, Olea, Oliva, Olivan, Olmedilla, Olmo, Oloriz, Olsinellas…”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos