Show ContentsPuente History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The distinguished Spanish surname Puente is of local origin, derived from the name of the place where a man once lived or held land. The surname Puente is the plural form of the word "Puente" which in Spanish means "bridge," thus, the original bearer of this surname must have been born or lived in a town where there were several bridges, a feature that he decided to adopt as his surname.

Early Origins of the Puente family

The surname Puente was first found in the valley of the Trucios in the province of Biscay in the Basque region. However, families with the Puente surname, have been present in Catalonia for many centuries. The Spanish Puente surname has appeared in documents that date as far back as the eleventh century.

Early History of the Puente family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Puente research. Another 62 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1704 and 1782 are included under the topic Early Puente History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Puente Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Ponte, Ponti, Pont, Ponts, Pontos, Puentes, De La Puente and many more.

Early Notables of the Puente family

Prominent among members of the family

  • were Don Jose de la Pente y Pena who was made Marquis of Villapuente y Pena in 1704, and don Juan de Puente y Castro, who was made Marquis of la Puente y Sotomayor in 1782

Puente Ranking

In the United States, the name Puente is the 3,279th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. [1]


United States Puente migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Puente Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Santos Puente, aged 48, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1803 [2]
  • Pedro DeLa Puente, who arrived in America in 1816 [2]
  • Manuel Puente, aged 25, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1826 [2]
  • Juan DeLa Puente, who landed in Peru in 1834 [2]
  • Alonso DeLa Puente, who arrived in Florida in 1838 [2]
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Puente (post 1700) +

  • Luz María Puente (1923-2021), American born Mexican pianist from Los Angeles
  • Ernesto Antonio "Tito" Puente (1923-2000), American Latin jazz and salsa musician and composer
  • Robert R. Puente, American Democratic Party politician, Member of Texas State House of Representatives 119th District; Elected unopposed 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002; Elected 2004; Elected unopposed 2006 [3]
  • Frank Puente Jr., American Democratic Party politician, Candidate in primary for Texas State House of Representatives 36th District, 1996 [3]
  • Pablo Puente Buces (1931-2022), Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church, who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1962 to 2004
  • José Vicente Puente (b. 1915), Spanish novelist and Columnist
  • Herberto Alfonso Puente (b. 1913), Argentine Chemist
  • Tito Puente (1943-2000), Puerto Rican musician
  • Miguel Puente (b. 1948), Mexican baseball player
  • Isaac Puente (1896-1936), Basque physician
  • ... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. 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)
  3. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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