Díaz is a common surname of Spanish origin with multiple meanings in multiple languages. First found in the Kingdom of Castile, where the name originated in the Visigoth period, the name accounts for about 0.17% of the Spanish population, ranking as the 14th-most frequently found surname in both 1999 and 2004.[1]
There is minor evidence that Díez may be equivalent to Díaz, in the form of Spanish language listing of most frequent surnames in 1999 Spain.[2] However, a 2008 in-press academic manuscript about Spanish naming in 2004 suggests otherwise, listing statistics for『Díaz』and『Díez』separately.[3][4] The surname is a cognate with the Portuguese language surname Dias.
Díaz and the anglicized form Diaz appear to be surnames only, without evidence for use as given names. Use of Diaz may arise through Anglicization of Portuguese language Dias.
Many examples of the surnames Díaz exist among historically notable people as a patronymic of Diego. Among the earliest such examples is El Cid, whose real name was Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, and whose father's given name was Diego.[5][full citation needed]
As of 2014, 21.5% of all known bearers of the surname Díaz were residents of Mexico (frequency 1:132), 11.4% of Colombia (1:96), 9.1% of Argentina (1:108), 8.0% of Spain (1:134), 7.2% of Venezuela (1:96), 6.7% of the United States (1:1,242), 5.2% of Peru (1:142), 5.0% of Cuba (1:53), 4.6% of Chile (1:87), 3.1% of the Philippines (1:742), 2.9% of the Dominican Republic (1:83), 2.5% of Puerto Rico (1:33), 2.4% of Guatemala (1:155), 2.0% of Honduras (1:100), 1.4% of El Salvador (1:107), 1.3% of Nicaragua (1:103), 1.2% of Ecuador (1:293) and 1.0% of Paraguay (1:161).
In Spain, the frequency of the surname was higher than the national average (1:134) in the following autonomous communities:
Reference codes, see #References: (a)=OcioTotal 1999, (b)=Mateos & Tucker 2008, (c)=Longley, et al., (d)=United States Census Bureau 1995, (e)=United States Census Bureau 2000
José E. Díaz (1833–1867), Paraguayan general, hero of the Paraguayan War
Pedro Díaz de Vivar (1740–1820), Spanish soldier and official, descendant of el Cid
Porfirio Díaz (1830–1915), Mexican soldier, politician, dictator who served seven terms as President of Mexico, President of Mexico following the French intervention in Mexico
Ramón Díaz (1926–2017), Uruguayan lawyer, economist and journalist, Chairman of the Central Bank
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043–1099), better known as El Cid, or Rodrigo, Castilian nobleman and military leader in medieval Spain
Carr, Derek C. (March 1999) [1999]. "Arabic and Hebrew auctoritates in the Works of Enrique de Villena". In Auguste Elfriede Christa Canitz and Gernot Rudolf Wieland (ed.). From Arabye to Engelond. University of Ottawa Press. pp. 56–57 (Note 16). ISBN0-7766-0517-8. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
Smith, Elsdon Coles (1986) [1986]. "Surnames From Father's Name". American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Com. pp. 63–64. ISBN0-8063-1150-9. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
United States Census Bureau (2000). "Top 1000 Names". Frequently Occurring Surnames From Census 2000. U.S. Department of Commerce. Archived from the original(XLS) on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
A history of the Díaz surname compiled by the Institute for Genealogy and History for Latin America is available for a fee. See pages 38 and 39 of https://books.google.com/books?id=xxcSboo5KTAC for more information.
Surname list
This page lists people with the surnameDiaz. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
