Zavala History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Germany
Spain

The illustrious name Zavala is a Basque surname of locative origin, derived from a geographical or artificial feature near which the founder of the lineage lived or had land. In this case, Zavala derives from the Basque word "zabal" which means "the wide, the flat." Therefore, the first bearer of the surname Zavala was someone whom members of his community identified as "he who lives on the plain."

Early Origins of the Zavala family

The surname Zavala was first found in the Basque Country of Spain where the name Zavala is the surname of a noble Basque lineage, widespread in the provinces of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa and Alava. Many of the family came from Biscay.

According to the chronicles, at the beginning of the Reconquista, a knight of this lineage called Lope de Zabala accompanied King Don Pelayo. In Vizcaya, Zabala's house was established in the towns of Bilbao, Elorrio, Durango and Portugalete, in the parish churches of Dima, Ceanuri, Bernagoiti and Yurre, in the Durango district, and in Zamudio, in the Bilbao district. From the house of the Antechurch of Yurre was Pascual de Zabala, Juana's husband, and they had a son named Agustín de Zabala, who married María de Lasarte. From this union Martín, Gregorio and Juana de Zabala y Lasarte were born. The eldest, Martin de Zabala y Lasarte, settled in Amzaga, in the Zuya Valley, in Alava. Esteban de Zabala descended from the same house as the Antechurch of Yurre, who moved to Chile and was one of the founders of the city of La Serena in 1549. A member of the house from the town of Durango, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, died in Panama in 1736. He was Lord of the Zabala Mayorazgo, in Durango, Knight of the Order of Calatrava, Field Marshal of the Royal Armies of His Majesty, Governor and Captain General of Buenos Aires, in 1717 and co-founder of Montevideo.

Early History of the Zavala family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Zavala research. Another 80 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1500, 1531, 1567, 1580, 1600, 1613, 1646, 1661, 1809 and 1878 are included under the topic Early Zavala History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Zavala Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Zavala, Zavála, Zabala, Zabal and Zabaleta and others.

Early Notables of the Zavala family

Prominent among bearers of the Zavala family name at this time was

Generál Agustín de Zavala (1567-1646), Governor & Captain General of Nuevo Leon (1613)...
General Juan de Zavala (1600-1661) was born in Pais Vizcaya, Reino de Castilla, Spain but emigrated to Mexico where he died at Cerralvo, Nuevo León, Mexico...
Miguel Garcia García Granados y Zavala, Presidente de Guatemala (1809-1878) was born in Seville, Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain...
His lineage traces back to Domingo de Zavala (b. c. 1531) from Lekeitio, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain...

Zavala Ranking

In the United States, the name Zavala is the 1,565^th most popular surname with an estimated 19,896 people with that name. 1

Zavala migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Zavala Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Lorenzo Zavala, aged 42, Mexican settler who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Francois" in 1831 2
Lorenzo De, Zavala Jr., who arrived in Texas in 1835 3
Manuel A Zavala, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1852 3
J. M. Zavala, aged 40, Spanish settler who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Bark Claupe" in 1855 2
Prudencio Feriono Zavala, aged 22, Mexican settler who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Bark Cuba" in 1856 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Zavala Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Andela Zavala, aged 10, who landed in America from Wichalkovia, Silesia, in 1906
Adela Zavala, aged 35, who settled in America from Lugano, Switerland, in 1910
Antonio Zavala, aged 36, who immigrated to the United States, in 1924

Contemporary Notables of the name Zavala (post 1700) +

Carlos Zavala (b. 1969), former Mexican-American footballer
Gabino Zavala (b. 1951), American Catholic priest, former auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles
Dani Zavala (b. 1990), American-born Guamanian footballer
Chandler Zavala (b. 1999), American NFL football player for the Carolina Panthers
Aaron Zavala (b. 2000), American baseball outfielder and third baseman
Jimmy Zavala (b. 1955), American musician, known for playing harmonica on the Eurythmics song "Missionary Man"
Maria Elena Zavala (b. 1950), American plant biologist
Seby Zavala (b. 1993), American baseball catcher
Victor Pereyra- Zavala (b. 1999), American footballer
José Toribio Medina Zavala (1852-1930), Chilean bibliographer, prolific writer, and historian, best known for his Biblioteca Hispano-Americana. (7 Vol., 1898-1907.)
... (Another 55 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/
Ellis Island Search retrieved 21st October 2021. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result
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)