Páez
A Spanish patronymic surname meaning “son of Paio/Payo,” ultimately from a medieval personal name.
The #3,420 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 29,593 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Páez is a Spanish patronymic formed from the old personal name Payo or Paio, with the -ez ending meaning “son of.” The older source excerpt specifically links Paez to Pay, described as a shortened form of Pelay, which is the medieval Spanish equivalent of Pelayo. In other words, the name originally meant “descendant of Payo/Pelayo.”
History
The surname belongs to the large family of Iberian patronymics in -ez, alongside forms such as Díaz and Ruiz. Historical spelling was not fully fixed, so variants like Paiz and Páez appear in older records and discussions. The name is especially associated with Spanish-speaking regions and later spread widely through the Hispanic world.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older Spanish naming practice produced many surnames by shortening a given name and adding -ez; Páez is one of the less common examples of that pattern.
From the historical record
“Roy ó Ruy, formó Roiz y Ruíz; Diago y Diego á Día y Die , hicieron Diaz y Diez ; y Pay, sín- copa de Pelay, produjo Paez. El acento pecu- lar de las provincias modificaba las desinencias : Aragón y Navarra hacían del iz y ez, eiz, y pro- nunciaban Lopelz y Bermudeiz , y del onis , oiz, diciendo por Galindonis…”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos