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Leal History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Leal History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Spain

The Leal surname is derived from the Spanish word "leal" meaning "faithful to obligations," and the name was no doubt originally born first as a nickname for someone with such qualities.

Early Origins of the Leal family

The surname Leal was first found in Granada, in southern Spain.

Early History of the Leal family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Leal research. Another 82 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1622, 1690, 1708 and 1743 are included under the topic Early Leal History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Leal Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Leal, Lealo, Leale and others.

Early Notables of the Leal family

Prominent among members of the family

were the Leal families of Granada and Gallego...
Juan de Valdés-Leal (1622-1690) was a Spanish baroque painter and engraver of Portuguese origin, who worked in Seville...

Leal Ranking

In the United States, the name Leal is the 1,390^th most popular surname with an estimated 22,383 people with that name. [1] However, in France, the name Leal is ranked the 2,763^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,000 - 2,500 people with that name. [2]

Leal migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Leal Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Alvaro Leal, who settled in America in 1513
Francisco Leal, who settled in the West Indies in 1517
Juan Leal, who settled in Mexico in 1527
Andres Leal, who settled in Veragua in 1535
Pedro Leal, who arrived in Mexico in 1535
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Leal Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Anne Leal, aged 21, who arrived in Savanna(h), Georgia in 1775 [3]

Leal Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Felipe Leal, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1802 [3]
Alvaro Leal, who landed in America in 1813 [3]
Francisco Leal, who arrived in America in 1817 [3]
Juan Leal, who arrived in America in 1827 [3]
Sebastian Leal, aged 25, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1829 [3]
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Leal 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]

Leal Settlers in West Indies in the 16th Century

Diego Leal, who settled in Dominican Republic in 1514
Diego Leal, who arrived in the Dominican Republic in 1514

Contemporary Notables of the name Leal (post 1700) +

Sharon Leal (b. 1972), American actress from Arizona
Susan Marian Leal (b. 1949), American Democratic Party politician, Member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 1993-97; Treasurer of San Francisco, 1997-2003; General Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, 2003-09 [5]
Marian S. Leal, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1996, 2000 [5]
Harland Leal, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1972 [5]
Francisco Leal, American Democratic Party politician, Presidential Elector for California, 1996 [5]
Carlos Leal (b. 1969), Spanish/Swiss rapper and actor
Jhulia Rayssa Mendes Leal (b. 2008), Brazilian skateboarder who won a silver medal in women’s street skateboarding at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Miguel Leal (b. 1961), Portuguese equestrian who competed in the individual jumping event at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Antonio Castro Leal, Mexican writer and diplomat
Luis Leal (b. 1957), Venezuelan, former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball
... (Another 3 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

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 2016, January 15) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html