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Rio History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Rio History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Spain

The distinguished surname Rio is a proud sign of a rich and ancient ancestry. The original bearer of the name Rio, which is a local surname, once lived, held land, or was born in the beautiful region of Spain. In Spain, hereditary surnames were adopted according to fairly general rules and during the late Middle Ages, names that were derived from localities became increasingly widespread. Local names originally denoted the proprietorship of the village or estate. The Rio family originally lived near a river. The name was derived from the Spanish word "rio," which meant "river."

Early Origins of the Rio family

The surname Rio was first found in Asturias, an important Christian kingdom of medieval Spain.

Early History of the Rio family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rio research. Another 209 words (15 lines of text) covering the year 1315 is included under the topic Early Rio History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rio Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Ríos, Rios, de Ríos, de los Ríos, de Rios, de los Rios, Río, Rio, del Río, del Rio and many more.

Early Notables of the Rio family

Prominent among members of the family

nineteenth century Spanish architect and writer Demetrio de los Ríos y Serrano

Rio Ranking

In the United States, the name Rio is the 13,665^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Rio is ranked the 705^th most popular surname with an estimated 6,860 people with that name. 2

Rio migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Rio Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Luisa Rio, who arrived in West Indies in 1536

Rio Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Francisco Jose De Rio, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1816 3
Diego Del Rio, who landed in America in 1817 3
F. Rio, who settled in New Orleans in 1825
A Del Rio, aged 27, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1829 3
Ramon Del Rio, aged 30, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1829 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Rio migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 4

Rio Settlers in West Indies in the 16th Century

Alonso Rio, who arrived in Dominican Republic in 1540

Rio Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century

Baltasar Del Rio, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1834 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Rio (post 1700) +

James Del Rio (b. 1924), American Democratic Party politician, Candidate in primary for Michigan State Senate 6th District, 1964; Member of Michigan State House of Representatives 24th District, 1965-72 5
Alicia Del Rio, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Texas, 2000 5
Sonia Del Rio (1940-2023), Spanish classical dancer
Rubén Darío Paredes del Río (b. 1933), Panamanian army officer, military ruler of Panama (1982-1983)
Rio Del Valle Hackford (1970-2022), American film and television actor, best known for playing the recurring role of Toby in the American drama television series Treme
Rio Kevin Alderton, English semi-professional footballer

Historic Events for the Rio family +

Flight TWA 800

Miss. Celine Rio (d. 1996), from France, French passenger flying aboard flight TWA 800 from J.F.K. Airport, New York to Leonardo da Vinci Airport, Rome when the plane crashed after takeoff ; she died in the crash 6

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Washington Post Passenger List TWA Flight 800. (Retrieved 2018, February 15th). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/twa800/list01.htm