Puerto Rican Last Names
Puerto Rican last names tell the story of four centuries of migration. The majority came from Spain, especially Andalusia and the Canary Islands, but you’ll also find Basque names like Irizarry, Corsican names like Mattei, French names like Beauchamp and Irish names like Power, brought by settlers who arrived under Spain’s Royal Decree of Graces in the early 19th century.
Below are 100 Puerto Rican surnames, grouped by background, with the meaning of each. Remember that Puerto Ricans traditionally use two surnames, father’s then mother’s, as in Rivera Colón. For first names to match, see our lists of Puerto Rican boy names and Puerto Rican girl names, or compare with Hispanic last names.
The most common Puerto Rican last names
These surnames dominate the island’s phone books. Patronymics ending in -ez mean “son of,” so Rodríguez is literally “son of Rodrigo.”
| Surname | Meaning | Origin / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rivera | Riverbank | Spanish/Galician; the most common surname in Puerto Rico |
| Rodríguez | Son of Rodrigo (“famous ruler”) | Spanish patronymic |
| González | Son of Gonzalo (“battle”) | Spanish patronymic |
| Hernández | Son of Hernando/Fernando | Spanish patronymic |
| Colón | Dove (Latin columba) | Spanish form of Columbus |
| Ortiz | Son of Orti/Fortún | Basque-Castilian |
| Torres | Towers | Spanish |
| Santiago | Saint James | Spanish, very common in PR |
| Díaz | Son of Diego | Spanish patronymic |
| Vázquez | Son of Vasco (“Basque”) | Galician-Castilian |
| Cruz | Cross | Spanish religious surname |
| Pérez | Son of Pedro | Spanish patronymic |
| Rosario | Rosary | Spanish devotional surname |
| Ramos | Palm branches (Palm Sunday) | Spanish/Portuguese |
| Morales | Blackberry bushes; mulberry trees | Spanish |
| Reyes | Kings (the Three Kings) | Spanish |
| Sánchez | Son of Sancho (“holy”) | Spanish patronymic |
| López | Son of Lope (“wolf”) | Spanish patronymic |
| Martínez | Son of Martín | Spanish patronymic |
| Ramírez | Son of Ramiro | Spanish patronymic |
Surnames strongly associated with Puerto Rico
These names are common across the Spanish-speaking world but have especially deep roots on the island, many brought by 17th- and 18th-century settlers.
| Surname | Meaning | Origin / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Negrón | Dark-haired or dark-complexioned | Spanish, very frequent in PR |
| Nieves | Snows (Our Lady of the Snows) | Spanish devotional surname |
| Quiñones | From Quiñones in León; land plots | Spanish toponymic |
| Vélez | Son of Vela | Spanish patronymic |
| Cintrón | Possibly from French Saintron | Characteristic of Puerto Rico |
| Pagán | Countryman, rural person | Latin paganus; notably common in PR |
| Feliciano | Happy, lucky | Latin |
| Figueroa | Fig tree grove | Galician |
| Meléndez | Son of Mendo/Menendo | Spanish patronymic |
| Maldonado | Badly given, ill-favored | Spanish nickname surname |
| Acevedo | Holly grove | Galician/Portuguese |
| Ayala | Slope, pasture | Basque-Castilian |
| Rolón | Possibly from Roland | Spanish; frequent in PR |
| Alicea | Possibly from Alicia | Distinctively Puerto Rican |
| Cotto | Possibly from coto, a fenced area | Common in PR |
| Laboy | Possibly from Catalan/French Laboy | Rare outside PR |
| Candelaria | Candlemas | Spanish devotional, Canarian roots |
| Matos | Woods, thickets | Portuguese/Galician |
| Burgos | From the city of Burgos | Spanish toponymic |
| Nazario | Of Nazareth | Spanish |
| Febus | Possibly from Phoebus, “bright” | Unusual, found mainly in PR |
| Quiles | Uncertain; from Aquiles (Achilles) | Spanish |
| Montañez | Mountain dweller | Spanish |
| Olmeda | Elm grove | Spanish |
| Soto | Grove, thicket | Spanish |
| Crespo | Curly-haired | Spanish nickname surname |
| Serrano | Highlander, from the mountains | Spanish |
| Lugo | From the Galician city of Lugo | Galician toponymic |
| Del Valle | Of the valley | Spanish |
| Rosa | Rose | Spanish/Italian |
| Bonilla | Good little town | Spanish toponymic |
| Carrasquillo | Little holm-oak thicket | Especially common in PR |
Canary Islands surnames
Thousands of isleños from the Canary Islands settled Puerto Rico’s interior. These names are especially typical of Canarian ancestry.
| Surname | Meaning | Origin / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Marrero | Stonemason (marra, sledgehammer) | Very Canarian |
| Perdomo | Canarian family name, of Norman-French descent | Tenerife and Lanzarote |
| Betancourt | From Béthencourt in Normandy | Descends from the Norman conqueror of the Canaries |
| Cabrera | Place of goats | Spanish toponymic |
| Arocho | Uncertain origin | Found almost only in PR |
| Padrón | Stone marker; also a Galician town | Canarian favorite |
| Afanador | Hard worker | Rare, Canarian |
| Medina | City (Arabic madina) | Spanish via Arabic |
| Delgado | Thin, slender | Spanish nickname surname |
| Mercado | Market | Spanish |
| Batista | Baptist | Spanish/Portuguese |
Basque and Catalan surnames
Basque and Catalan merchants and officials settled the island’s ports. Basque names are easy to spot by their -rry, -ía or -aga endings.
| Surname | Meaning | Origin / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Irizarry | New settlement (Basque Irizarri) | Iconic Puerto Rican surname |
| Echevarría | New house (etxe + berri) | Basque |
| Arzuaga | Place of stones | Basque |
| Ochoa | Wolf (otso) | Basque |
| Goytía | Upper place (goiti) | Basque |
| Aponte | Bridge | Galician-Basque |
| Olavarría | New ironworks (Basque) | Basque |
| Zayas | Uncertain; old noble family of Spain | Also Cuban |
| Ferrer | Blacksmith | Catalan |
| Font | Fountain, spring | Catalan |
| Vidal | Life-giving | Catalan/Occitan |
| Roig | Red-haired | Catalan |
| Sastre | Tailor | Catalan/Spanish |
Corsican, French, Irish and other European surnames
The Royal Decree of Graces (1815) opened Puerto Rico to Catholic settlers from friendly nations. Corsicans concentrated around Yauco and the coffee mountains, leaving surnames still common there today. You’ll find more of these families in Italian last names and French last names.
| Surname | Meaning | Origin / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mattei | Son of Matteo | Corsican; Yauco coffee families |
| Franceschi | Son of Francesco | Corsican |
| Antongiorgi | Anton + Giorgio | Corsican, distinctly Yauco |
| Pietri | Son of Pietro (“rock”) | Corsican |
| Paoli | Son of Paolo | Corsican; tenor Antonio Paoli |
| Santoni | Son of Santo | Corsican |
| Vivoni | Uncertain Corsican family name | Hacienda Vivoni in Yauco |
| Mariani | Belonging to Mario/Maria | Corsican |
| Negroni | Dark-haired | Corsican/Italian |
| Luchetti | Little Luca | Corsican/Italian |
| Beauchamp | Beautiful field | French |
| Maysonet | Little house (French maison) | French origin, typical of PR |
| Dupré | Of the meadow | French |
| Power | Poor (Norman-Irish le Poer) | Irish; Ramón Power y Giralt |
| O’Neill | Descendant of Niall | Irish |
| Kuilan | Possibly Dutch or German origin | Found almost only in PR |
| Colberg | Possibly Danish/German place name | PR family of northern European roots |
Religious and virtue surnames
Many Puerto Rican surnames honor feasts, saints or places of pilgrimage, a reminder of the island’s Catholic heritage.
| Surname | Meaning | Origin / notes |
|---|---|---|
| Concepción | Conception | Immaculate Conception |
| Trinidad | Trinity | Holy Trinity |
| Asencio | Ascension | Spanish |
| Encarnación | Incarnation | Spanish |
| Dávila | From Ávila | Spanish toponymic; Saint Teresa’s city |
| De Jesús | Of Jesus | Common religious surname |
| Santana | Saint Anne | Spanish/Portuguese |
| Santos | Saints | Spanish/Portuguese |
Tips for researching a Puerto Rican surname
- Always record both surnames. The second (maternal) surname is often the key to separating two cousins with the same name in parish records.
- Start with Catholic parish books and the civil registry, which begins in 1885. FamilySearch has digitized much of both.
- Spelling drifts: Irizarry also appears as Irizarri, Cintrón as Sintrón, and accents are often dropped in US records.
- A Corsican or French surname usually points to a family that arrived after 1815 and often to the coffee towns of the southwest, such as Yauco and Utuado.
- Don’t read too much into a surname alone. Many Puerto Ricans share a surname without being related, and some adopted the surname of a godparent or landowner.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common last name in Puerto Rico?
Rivera is widely reported as the most common surname in Puerto Rico, followed by names such as Rodríguez, González, Hernández, Colón and Santiago.
Why do Puerto Ricans have two last names?
Puerto Rico follows the Spanish naming system: the first surname is the father’s first surname and the second is the mother’s first surname, as in Rivera Colón.
Is Irizarry a Puerto Rican name?
Irizarry is a Basque surname (from Irizarri, “new settlement”) that became so common in Puerto Rico, especially around Mayagüez and the west coast, that it is now strongly associated with the island.
Are there Taíno last names?
Very few. Spanish colonial records gave baptized Taíno people Spanish surnames, so Indigenous ancestry usually shows up in DNA or family history rather than in a surname.
Why are there Corsican names in Puerto Rico?
The 1815 Royal Decree of Graces encouraged Catholic Europeans to settle the island. Many Corsicans took up coffee farming in the southwestern mountains, and names like Mattei and Antongiorgi remain common there.