González (surname)


González is a Spanish surname of Germanic origin, the second most common in Spain, as well as one of the five most common surnames in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, and Venezuela, and one of the most common surnames in the entire Spanish-speaking world. As of 2017, it is the 13th most common surname in the United States.

Origin

González is a Spanish name. Its origins trace back to a Visigothic name combining the words gunþo and alf ; the Latinized form was Gundisalv. As the Spanish language developed, the name transformed into Gonzalo and its surname derivative González. Some believe the name to mean "war hall", as evidenced by the old Norse words "Gunn/Gunnar", meaning "War/warrior" and the old Norse word "salaz" meaning "hall", whereby "gunnsalaz" may have very likely been the original Visigoth word for "castle" before they eventually adopted the Roman-Latin "castellum" and then "castle" for the building -- a process which continued across much of our old Norse world of today, wherein nations like Iceland use the word "kastali" as their word for castle. And even in the German language, one of the words for "castle" is "schloss", which is an alteration of the old Norse word "salaz" meaning "hall", wherein "salaz" may also be pronounced as "shalaz" and the first vowel eliminated entirely, leaving "shlaz", pronounced "shloss", which is then spelled as the modern German word "schloss".
González is also taken to mean "son of Gonzalo", "noble warrior", "soldier" or "castle guard". Common spellings include: Gonzalez, Gonzáles, Gonzales, Gonzalés, González and Gonçalves. The variant Consolus appears among people descended from a Spaniard with the surname Gonsález who settled in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam.

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 31.8% of all known bearers of the surname González were residents of Mexico, 10.8% of Spain, 10.0% of Venezuela, 7.4% of Argentina, 7.1% of the United States, 6.7% of Colombia, 5.1% of Cuba, 4.2% of Chile, 3.1% of Paraguay, 2.7% of Guatemala, 1.7% of Panama, 1.7% of Nicaragua, 1.4% of the Dominican Republic, 1.1% of El Salvador and 1.1% of Ecuador.
In Spain, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following autonomous communities:
  1. Asturias
  2. Canary Islands
  3. Castile and León
  4. Cantabria
  5. Galicia
  6. Extremadura
  7. Andalusia
In Cuba, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following provinces:
  1. Artemisa
  2. Cienfuegos
  3. Mayabeque
  4. Ciego de Ávila
  5. Matanzas
  6. Sancti Spíritus
  7. Isla de la Juventud
  8. Pinar del Río
  9. Villa Clara
  10. Santiago de Cuba

People named González

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