25 Common Basque Last Names 

My grandmother once told me that the Basque language is the only language the devil cannot speak. She was from Spain.

I visited the Basque country on the French side of the Pyrenees a few years ago. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been

My grandmother was Echevarría. 🙃 She was Basque and Raramuri from Chihuahua, Mexico. I only recently discovered my Basque heritage and it is super interesting. Watching from Florida, USA. Thanks for the info.

Not Basque or from the Basque Diaspora, have never looked for Basque content, not looking for names. RU-vid just randomly recommended this and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Basques have to be the most interesting people in Europe.

Loved this video!!!... I'm not of Basque descent, but as a Latinamerican, we're so used to know people with Basque surnames and we're not even aware of that: Irizarri, Navarro, Urriola, Iturralde, Esturain, Indurain, Vengoechea, Azcárraga, Larrinaga, Aizpurúa, Balboa, Olazábal, Aristizábal, Urdaneta, Zubizarreta, Legorreta, Sarasqueta, etc... Many Baque names and words, along with Latin, Arabic and some Greek, Gypsy and Germanic elements, formed the Castilian (Spanish) language. We're all united in our diversity. Greetings from Panama!!! 🇵🇦

My coworker had the last name Zazueta. He stated he was Spanish Basque, living in California and every person he had met with the same surname was of his clan. I showed him an edition of Hispanic magazine which mentioned a Mexican businessman with the name Zazueta. He took the magazine and said he would research it. A few days later he said he spoke to his aunt. She indicated the Mexican gentleman was part of their clan which had settled in Mexico.

A town in Newfoundland called Port Aux Basques is a very interesting Basque settlement from hundreds of years ago. Probably still contains some decently pure Basques lineages.

All of these last names are really really common in Argentina and lots of historical figures had them too! Had no idea they were basque

love this! I am so happy to find new resources to celebrate basque heritage and love seeing everyone chime in with their last names and current countries! so neat, thank you!

My grandfather’s grandfather was Basque came to Mexico. Aldecoa was once spelled as Aldekoa. I have a lot of family in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.

Hi sister , I am definitely not Basque . However I grew up in the Sanwaquine Valley in California . From 1950 untill I turned 17years old and joined the Marine Corps . In the valley back then there were vast herds of sheep any where one looked almost . Graseing on barley and wheat stubble . Of course the sheep were shepherded by Basque Shepard's . To me as a child and even now that I am a 75 year old man , those memories are some of the most precious to me . I would love to spend my last year's hearing sheep . Thank you for your video .

RU-vid randomly showed this video even though I hadn't looked for any prior Basque content before, but I happen to be Basque, currently living in Southern California. Thank you for spreading our culture not only among the Basque-American diaspora but with the rest of the world. Ondo izan eta bai, nik ere abizen euskalduna dut... Izeta :-) Ikusi arte!

Guire is said to be a French name with Basque origin. Prominent families of Guire's immigrated to England, Scotland and Ireland and had their name changed to McGuire, MacGuire or Maguire....

My last name is Menchaca, but recently I learned that my last name is actually spelled Mentxaka in Euskera. I never knew there was a basque diaspora, but I’m super interested in learning more about it in order to reconnect with my roots.

Hi, my Basque surname is Sarachaga (Saratxaga), from Guenes in Vizcaya. There was an accent over the middle "a" until my great=grandfather emigrated to Cuba, where they dropped the accent. The ayuntamiento in Guenes looks like a pink birthday cake with white frosting! Guenes is near Bilbao and is spelled with two dots over the "u" and a tilde over the "n". Sarachaga means, "from the place of the willows." I'm so glad I found your sites!!! Thanks for the good information! Thanks for all your work!!

I liked your video very much and believe me, your pronunciation is great coming from a californian. Don't know if someone referred it in the comment section but let me appoint this: there's a very common last name with basque origin that doesn't appear in your list and could have likely been the first one. But it's logic, because most people believe it's spanish despite they're wrong: this name is GARCÍA, which means "the young one". It comes from "gartzea", that is the form Basque speakers used to say "the young" in the Middle Ages. Nowadays it has changed to "gaztea". You can also find the names Garcea or Garcés. If I'm not mistaken, García is the most common last name in Spain. It's believed that when the christians "reconquered" the whole territories that the moors had occupied for nearly 700 years, almost the whole Iberian Peninsula, a lot of people from the north that never surrendered to Islam started to move southbound to colonize the territories that were being dissocupied. And among them there were a lot of basques, usually young people, sent to do this. That's also why you still can find a lot of places in Spain called "Navarrete" or similar words derived from "Navarra". Because in that ages basques were called "Navarros". And there's another fact, not accepted from most of the people but which makes perfect sense to me is that the common spanish termination of names -EZ, like Rodríguez or López, that means "son of" also comes from Basque. In basque language words ended in -ez/-iz normally mean "made of" (such as "zurez"/made of wood, "harriz"/made of stone) and López could easily mean what I'm suggesting. By the way, Lope is the same as Otxoa, the wolf, coming from the latin word "lupus". Hope that I didn't bore you with all this, but being an Euskara speaker with plenty of basque last names, some ended in -ez as well (here we keep all the names, both the father's and the mother's) I find this topic very interesting. Happy I found your videos. Keep on! And again, your pronunciation rocks!! Besarkada bero bat Euskal Herritik - Big hug from the Basque Country

My dads father is basque decente, last name Anchondo. I recently found out my heritage! Thank you for making this community, happy to learn more!

Fascinating channel! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

Very informative, thank you

Hi! I love your channel, & what you are doing for the Basque people away from Euskal Herria. I am mostly Spaniard, but my fathers mother is Basque, Urrutia. And I'm very proud of the Basque heritage that I do have. ✊🏻

Awesome!!! I happen to be a Chavarría - shortened from Echevarría a few generations back. My father came to the US from Costa Rica; lots of Basque names down there. I have been aware of my Basqueness since I was a kid, thanks to Dad. A few years back, I read a great book called A Basque History of the World, by Mark Kurlansky - not a Basque, but a great journalist. It really opened my 👀 eyes to the richness, and importance of Basque culture. I highly recommend it. Keep up the great work!

How absolutely wonderful. Thank you. Love to hear more about the basque.

Thanks a lot 👍

Hi Anne, greetings from an Echevarría! I liked this video thank you for the number 1 😄

Watching from Basque Country! This video showed up on my recomendations🤣and im subscribing! My name is Iñigo Jauregi, you almost got the correct pronunciation on my last name, but is very nice dont worry, i appreciate your great effort. Nice to see that people is so curious about basque people :)

Informative, thank.you.

Just found this video and I love it. Aspiazu is my last name, my grandfather came from the town of Lekeitio, Spain in the early 20’s. My family has always been very proud of our Basque heritage. Keep up the great videos, think I’ll watch some of your others now!

I have no idea why this video showed up in recs, I had never even heard of Basque before tbh. I’m glad I watched! It put me down a very interesting researching path. Basque is super interesting! and it’s one of the few (only?) languages in Europe that is wholly un-related to any other language. So unique

Hello Anne-Marie! I’m so happy I found your channel. As the last American male of Basque/Spanish descent with my last name. I’m curious to learn everything I can about my heritage! Something I’d really like to do is learn the langue. I only know a few words and phrases lol. Anyway, I just subscribed and look forward to going thru your videos. Thanks!

Very interesting thankyou 🍃🌸🍃

Beautiful

Thank you for going over many of the alternate spellings. I just realized how I may have not recognized the records of ancestors because names were spelled in different ways at different times. I will pay closer attention to characteristic variants of names as I continue my research.

I had a lady friend in Zarauz named Aramburu. Her first name an unusual and typically Basque name I'd love to share but don't really have leave. Couldn't avoid awareness of the endless History surrounding you there. Not so much in the buildings, but in the people themselves.The Basque are wonderful. Treat each other as old friends immediately.

This is so interesting and very enjoyable. Thank you. The Basque people are fascinating.

Most interesting, all this information of yours about the Basque Country. As a result of my friendship with a Basque lady whom I like, I encountered the Basque language, and, being a musician of many years of experience, I have now become a txistu player, and that's coming on nicely. Not many txistularis in Scotland! Great instrument, and somewhat different here.

Awesome! Basque Diaspora is all over the world! Best from Izaguirre family now living in the amazing Brazil!

Hello Anne-Marie. That is a genuinely great and fascinating linguistic video. I actually saw another one by a linguist who posted about the historical aspects of Euskara's origin, which I am sure you know is unknown, except for a few common theories. I am not at all of Basque origin, but rather an ex-teacher of trench, Spanish, and ESL, with a strong background in linguistics and years as a translator. I'll look out for more of your videos since anything about languages is tops on my list.

Thanks for posting this video, my last name is Irizarry, so I’ve been researching it’s Basque origins. It seems close to #19 IRIGOIEN & #12 IRIART. Will be checking out your other videos.

So entertaining!

One of my last names is Echevarría (shout out to the Etxeberri's out there!) and my family is from Mexico with ancestors from the Basque region. I read somewhere that those who created new farms of corn and potatoes and the like from the New World were given this last name to denote that their lineage is fairly recent. Not sure how true that is though

This was so helpful! There is a Zabala in my ancestry. Thank you for this info!

So interesting. I knew some of these; most I had never heard of. Thanks for doing this.

Great video 👍

I lived in El Salvador for a couple of years and met lots of people with variations of these names. I live in Idaho which I understand has the largest Basque population outside of the Basque Country and Basque names are quite common here.

The Basque surnames in Puerto Rico: Aguirre, Albizu, Arizmendi, Arriaga, Arrieta, Arteaga, Echegaray, Echevarria, Elizondo, Gabilondo, Garay, Goicochea, Goitia, Ibarra, Igartua, Irizarry, Urrutia, Vazquez and many others.

Yeah! We made the list! Apparently it was Aguirre Ben Gao when my great grandfather migrated. But it was shortened when he got off the ship. Thanks, Ellis Island.

Glad I found your channel, ready to visit Basque Country and my ancestry! Ostolaza last name:)

My late step dad was Mr. Etchart. He was spanish basque born and raised. God rest your soul.

It's now believed that the Acadian name Cheverie (very common in the Canadian Maritimes and to a lesser degree in Louisiana) is a variant of Etxeberria (Echeverria). The earliest known written use of the name variant is Detcheverry or d'Etcheverry. It was once believed that the name was from chevrier (French: goat-herder). Since then it has been determined that the ancestry of this family is Basque and Mi'kmaq with later French admixture.

Hi from Basque country ;) Your prononciation is nearly perfect, and it's quite fascinating to hear american people so accurate and precise about our little community so far away from you.

awesome!

It’s fascinating that some historians are claiming Basque was part of Ancient Chosen (고조선) , which is modern day Korea. Goy and Goi means “high” so is Go or Ko in Korean.

Isabel Ibarra is a well-known painter in the Carmel area of CA. I didn't realize she has a Basque last name, but it makes me cherish the two paintings I have even more.

Very very interesting ❤

I would love to know more about you. I’ve learned so much from your videos. You are so knowledgeable. Please tell us about yourself.

De Uriarte is very rare on the East Coast where I am. I visited the Museum of Northern Nevada in Elko and saw that Basques had big influence on the great state of Nevada.

I was doing genealogy. My mother’s heritage is French. They were early settlers to New France in Canada when King Louis the fourteenth was king. And moved to the very northern United States during my great grandfather’s time. My first ancestor to move to New France had the last name of DesBasque. It was common at the time for the French to use nicknames as last names…and I have not been able to trace back farther. But I’m guessing he was probably Basque

This was interesting! I had no idea about basque anything

I really enjoyed this video. I knew a man once that had Basque ancestry. His last name was Azcona. Anyway he was extremely proud of his Basque heritage. Several surnames that you mentioned I've heard of but didn't know they are Basque. Thank you for creating this video. 🙋🏻‍♀️

My grandmother née was Boronda. She was 5 th generation California. She was the descendent of Don Jose Manuel Boronda who was born in Jerez, Mexico/ New Spain and served in the Spanish colonial military in Santa Barbara and San Francisco Presidios in 1797 to 1820. When I researched the Boronda family history I learned it was Basque and there were variations of the spelling. The most common was Borunda. The Spanish Padres in New Spain changed the letters on baptismal certificates to sound more Spanish. I discovered that Basque settlers in New Spain used the names of the towns they were from . The closes regional name to Boronda was in the Basque Country called Valle de Burunda. It is interesting to note how many famous explorers, officials and settlers in New Spain were Basque

My Dads family is Oribe but became Orive when moved to Australia. Thank you for your videos growing up in Australia we were not exposed to our ancestral language as proud a Basque my Dad was. My ancestory is from the towns near Bilbao Gallerata and Ortuella.

Thanks, I have at least 4 of these surnames in my ancestry.

David Etcheberry. Shout out back at ya. Very cool coming across your channel. I just subscribed.

Hey! Didn’t expect my last name to pop up! Other than my family, I haven’t come across other Arriadas. However, I have seen Arriagas out there. Great video, Anne Marie!

Another good video, here a Basque Teacher and tour guide of the whole Basque Country who follows you. As I can read in the comments, many of your followers as well are from the Basque Country, so you don't have only diaspora ones. If you have any doubt about Basque toponymy and anthroponymy, just let me know, it's one of my specialties. I know that you really love the Basque culture and that you really enjoy sharing it with the rest of the world, actually is something we both have in common, so I really want to express thanks to you for giving some visibility to our ancient, tiny and fascinating culture and land. Eskerrik asko, bihotzez. Greetings from Barakaldo (Bizkaia)

In our language - which is Chechen 🇨🇻 - we have Basque words too. The same in Basque and Chechen in terms of pronunciation and meaning.

Good job

Kaixo, Anne Marie! Great video! I had no idea Aguirre and Duarte were Basque names! Along with Uchoa, they are very common here in Brazil where I live! Mine is not very common, I've never met an Etxetxipia/Echechipia who was not part of my family. Anyway, awesome video! Gonna tell all my Duarte and Aguirre friends they are one of us lol

Love it!!! 👍 would like more Basque names for women.

My last name is Garay. I definitely have basque dna along with Spanish and Mexico. Other small percentages. Thanks for sharing. Glad i found your channel. I’m glad I can share some information with my family.

Hi!!! I’m a Basque randomly watching this video and I just suscribed to your channel. Well done!! If I can help in any way just ask

Growing up i always thought i was just mexican thats where my family is from sinaloa, im in California also but growing up very curiously went on ancestry and found out i have a basque last name LIZARRAGA meaning ash tree i asked my grandmother who pulled out this super cute book with our families coat of arms showing the ash tree. Thank you for all your videos i want to learn all i can and eventually visit 💖

My Great-Grandpa was French and my Great-Great Grandma was Spanish. His name was Napoleon and her Cordelia. This lady doing the video pronounced these names very well.

Thank you for this video ! I do not have a single Basque blood in me but I really loved the French part of the Basque Country and as someone who loves languages, I have decided to start the Basque language slowly but surely. I really loved Bayonne and I cannot wait to go back there ! I also want to work on my Spanish and go to Bilbao.

I saved this video because my husband's grandmother was French Basque and when I came across #19 he recognized Irigoien but with a Yrigoien (something like that). So exciting to see it on the list! Would love to go there some day.

I live in the Basque country oft northern Nevada (USA) and the Basque tradition runs deep here. We even have a National Basque Festival each year in Elko, Nevada rather than the traditional 4th of July like most American towns. Our phone book has a lot of names I didn't see in your video-which surprises me. Ongi Etorri!

Great information. My family name is Urtiaga (Old Tree?) and I’ve seen several different spellings over the years; Urteaga, Arteaga, Arriaga, etc. While conducting my own research, I discovered our name was also associated with a cave (Urtiaga Cave) in the Guipuzcoa area of Northern Spain where “modern human” remains (Basques?) were excavated by anthropologists “in situ” (in it’s original place) and in close proximity with Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon remains, possibly indicating the 3 human types may have “over lapped” or even co-existed in ancient and perhaps competitively engaged in control of natural resources in this region. Since we, the Basques, are still here, one can assume the completion ended many thousands of years ago.

Wowzah! I was losing hope hearing the names listed, until the very last (=Most Common!) name, Echeverria. Boom, I hit the jackpot! Thank you for your efforts!

Thank you for alovelly prese tation ahlurv yer style

Iturralde, 3 Basque Brothers come to Latin America in 1677. One to Mexico, one to South America and one to Cuba. My Family.

My sister’s late husband was Asumendi and his family has connected with her. She has maintained his name. We were surprised to discover our DNA also includes a Basque heritage.

Wow, you mentioned a name that is in my family tree a few generations back.

Wow, didnt know this.

So many of these names are common in the Philippines too, but as you said in the beginning that having a Basque surname does not denote Basque ancestry, this is very true in my country. Most Filipinos were required by Spain to pick Spanish surnames, many of which came from different parts of Spain such as Catalonia and of course, the Basque Country. Examples include Ochoa, Echegaray, as well as other Basque surnames you didn't mention, like Larrazabal and Esquivel.

kaixo Ann Marie. We are some English students from the Basque Country. We are writing to you because we want to help you with your Euskera through videos. Could you help us with our English too?

These Basques reached not only the Americas but also Asia- Here in The Philippines, I had a Great Grandfather named "Jorge Arrieta" I tried looking up the meaning of the surname "Arrieta" and it says "Arri meaning stone and eta as a suffix for place or group" We don't really know why he came here but my Mother and I assume he was a colonizer :>

Hi Anne Marie, I've recently found out about yout channel and all I can do is greet you. I personally find your videos very educative yet entertaing to watch as a basque guy. Unfortunately, during the last few decades the number of people who are able to speak fluently in basque and actually use it has gone down considerably. Here in the town I live in most of us teenagers speak basque in our everyday life, but it is also true that most other people do not bother much about this precious language of ours. That is why I find it amazing and I am grateful that you have such an interest in our language despite not being basque. And I am not wrong when I say that you are 'basque-er' than most of inhabitants of the basque country. If you have any doubts or questions you want to ask a native basque speaker, feel free to do so!

Cool vídeo. I don't know what spelling variations the word might have suffered, but we spell it "Aguirre" ( in Spanish, that "u" after the "g" is silent, so you did get the pronunciation right!)

In the Basque Country when they started the use of surnames they just did it based on where you came from or where you live so most of them are to do with a geographical location, like mountains or types of trees etc.

Thank you for this nice video. I've realised that many family names/people I knew before as Spanish/Spaniards are Basque in reaity :)

I love Basque... Saludos desde Zamboanga, Las Islas Filipinas. Larracochea Larrakoetxea

Both of my grandmothers gave Basque surnames. My paternal grandmother's last name is Huizar and my maternal grandmother's last name is Peñuñuri. I also have the surname Ochoa on part my father's side and the surname Berryessa on part of my mother's side, which was originally spelled Berrelleza.

Been researching my blood type o negative and keep coming to this

Free Basque country

I learned about the Basque region and culture through the sport of jai-alai. Every one of these names was the name of a professional jai-alai player in the USA at some point. And Goikoetxea is the name of the #1 player in the world right now. The programs at the US frontons only have space for 10 letters per name. So over the years many names were shortened to the “American” version, to fit in the program. A player named Arecha may really have a last name like Arechabaruleta or something close to that.

Lasai neska. We still understand the names. We really appreciate the effort you make while living in CA. Ondo ibili.

Hello mine is Foruria went to school with Carmen Bilao . Thanks for sharing. I live in idaho lot a basque people here

My last name is Orozco-García Garcia is medieval basque & Orozco is Orozko; a village in the southern of part of Basque Country

My great grandmother was Marguerite Etchegorri (Red House) from Gironce in France. I regret not knowing more about Basque culture.