Show ContentsVasco History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

  • Origins Available:
  • Italy
  • Spain
Vasco Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Vasco

What does the name Vasco mean?

In Spain, the earliest forms of hereditary surnames were patronymic surnames, which are derived from the father's given name, and metronymic surnames, which are derived from the mother's given name. The patronymic Vasco is such a name, having been derived from the medieval given name Velasco. This name was in turn derived from the Basque word "bela," which means "crow," and the diminutive suffix sko.

Early Origins of the Vasco family

The surname Vasco was first found in Galicia, where Velasco (or Blasco) Sánchez (fl. 1153-1181) was an Iberian nobleman who held various political and military offices in three different kingdoms. He was a son of Sancho Núñez and Sancha Enríquez and his father was a son of Nuño Velázquez and brother of Alfonso Núñez (fl. 1101-1135).

From this earliest beginning, the family rose to prominence as a Basque family name in the Basque Country, Spain where they are still prominent to this day.

The Duke of Frías is a hereditary title in the peerage of Spain accompanied by the dignity of Grandee, created in 1492 by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and conferred to his son-in-law Don Bernardino Fernández de Velasco, 2nd Count of Haro, Constable of Castile, and Viceroy of Granada. The House of Velasco was one of the most powerful and influential noble Castilian families of the Middle Ages.

Early History of the Vasco family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Vasco research. Another 71 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1110, 1500, 1510, 1511, 1525, 1526, 1534, 1549, 1560, 1561, 1564, 1604, 1617, 1688, 1717, 1767 and 1785 are included under the topic Early Vasco History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Vasco Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Vasco, Vasquez, Velásquez, Velasco, Belasco and many more.

Early Notables of the Vasco family

were Gabriel Vásquez (1549-1604), Spanish Jesuit theologian; Juan Vásquez (or Vázquez, c. 1500-1560), a Spanish priest and composer of the Renaissance; José Velásquez (1717-1785), a Spanish soldier who served in Baja California, Alta California and other areas of New Spain, leading notable exploring expeditions and describing the region in his diaries and reports; Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin, an Aztec leader in Tenochtitlan from 1525 to 1526; Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco, 4th Count of...
Another 73 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Vasco Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Vasco migration to the United States +



Vasco Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Juan Vasco, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1820 1
  • Valyko Vasco, who arrived in New York, NY in 1894

Vasco migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Vasco Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • J. Vasco, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Caduceus" in 1871 2
  • R. Vasco, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Caduceus" in 1871 2
  • W. Vasco, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Caduceus" in 1871 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Vasco (post 1700) +

  • Vasco Rocha Vieira (1939-2025), Portuguese administrator and army officer, Governor of Macau (1991-1999)
  • Vasco Tagliavini (1937-2019), Italian professional football player and coach
  • Vasco Ilídio Alves Cordeiro (b. 1973), Portuguese politician, President of the Regional Government of the Azores (2012-)
  • Vasco Alves Henriques Lucas Nunes (1974-2016), Portuguese cinematographer, producer, and film director
  • Vasco Bendini (1922-2015), Italian informalist painter
  • Vasco Navarro da Graça Moura GCSE (1942-2014), Portuguese lawyer, writer, translator and politician
  • Vasco Giuseppe Bertelli (1924-2013), Italian Prelate of Roman Catholic Church, Bishop of Volterra (1985–2000)
  • Vasco Fernandes (1475-1542), one of the main Portuguese Renaissance painters
  • Vasco Gonçalves, 20th-century Portuguese Prime Minister
  1. 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)
  2. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 5th November 2010). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html

Houseofnames.com on Facebook