Calderón History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Portugal
Spain

The name Calderón literally means "cauldron" denoting that its original bearer was a maker of cauldrons and kettles. Today a caldera is also a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption.

Early Origins of the Calderón family

The surname Calderón was first found in the Portuguese town of Serta, in the province of Castelo, during the reigns of King Fernando (1367-1383) and King Joao I (1383-1433) where Gonzalo Rodrigues, a noble knight lived. He was made captain by King Joao and fought bravely under him in the Battle of Aljubarota, in which the Portuguese defeated the invading Castilian army, and secured the independence of Portugal. In this battle, Gonzalo Rodrigues wrested two treasures from the Castilians, one was a silver angel, which he offered to the king, who in turn donated it to the "Colegiada de Guimaraes"; the other was a prized bronze cauldron, large enough to cook three or four oxen together, which he kept in the monastery of Alcobaca. For his services and his bravery in battle, King Joao I ordered that he take the name of "caldeira", or "cauldron", in remembrance of his exploits, and granted him the coat of arms. 1

Because he returned this boiler to the Castilians, which is said to have lifted him into the air with his great strength, and in remuneration for the great services rendered, the King ordered him to take the name of Boiler as his nickname, a piece also remembered in the arms. 1

Early History of the Calderón family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Calderón research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1583 and 1599 are included under the topic Early Calderón History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Early Notables of the Calderón family

Another 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Calderón Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Calderón Ranking

In the United States, the name Calderón is the 864^th most popular surname with an estimated 34,818 people with that name. 2 However, in France, the name Calderón is ranked the 8,521^st most popular surname with an estimated 500 - 1,000 people with that name. 3

Calderón migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Calderón Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Alonso Calderón, who immigrated to America in 1513
Juan Calderón, who settled in Hispaniola in 1536
Pedro Calderón, went to Guatemala in 1538
Bartolomé Calderón, who settled in Florida in 1538
Gabriel Calderón, with his wife María and daughters Catalina, Elena, María and Francisca, to Peru in 1592

Calderón Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John R. Calderon, who settled in Philadelphia in 1809
Anton Calderon, who arrived in America in 1812 4
Alonso Calderon, who arrived in America in 1813 4
Hernando Calderon, who landed in America in 1814 4
Socorro Calderon, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1816 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Calderón 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. 5

Calderón Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century

Diego Calderon, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1835 4
Juan Calderon, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1836 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Calderón (post 1700) +

Sergio Calderón (1945-2023), Mexican-born American actor, known for his roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Men in Black, and The Ruins
Charles M. Calderon (b. 1950), American politician, California State Senator from California's 58th Senate District
Ronald Steven Calderon (b. 1957), American politician, California State Senator from California's 30th Senate District
Gaspar de la Vega y Calderón, American politician, Honorary Consul for Cuba at Norfolk, Virginia, 1909 6
Erick Stalin Morillo Calderón (2000-2023), Peruvian footballer who played as a right-back
Cristina Calderón Harban (1928-2022), Chilean ethnographer, craftswoman, writer and cultural activist who was the last living full-blooded Yaghan
Ricardo Arias Calderón (1933-2017), Panamanian politician, 1st Vice President of Panama (1990-1992)
Antonio Troyo Calderón (1923-2015), Costa Rican Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church
Hospital Apprentice First Class Alberto Pedro Calderón (1920-1998), Argentine mathematician widely considered as one of the 20th century's most important mathematicians
Philip Hermogenes Calderon (1833-1898), British painter in the Pre-Raphaelite style
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

De Faria, Antonio Machado. Armorial lusitano: genealogia e heráldica. Lisboa, 1961. Print
"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 26) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html