Vasquez
Vázquez (also spelled Vásquez, Vasques), in non-Spanish-speaking countries often as Vazquez or Vasquez, is an originally Galician surname, in use not only in Galicia but all over the Spanish-speaking world.
Overview
To a lesser extent it also occurs in Portuguese-speaking countries, where Vasco as surname predominates. Vasquez means "[son] of Vasco" and Vasco comes from the pre-Roman latinized name "Velascus" - a name of uncertain origin and meaning, but probably meaning Basque or Iberian. In Galician-Portuguese the pre-Roman name becomes Velascu > Veascu > Vaasco > Vasco.
It is known that in some Spanish-speaking countries, families of non-Iberian ancestry have also adopted this surname. In Colombia and Argentina, there have been instances of "Watzke" and "Watzka" families, of German-Czech descent, Hispanicizing their surnames to "Vasquez". The surname was chosen as being the one most closely resembling their former name; in Italy a similar phenomenon was noted with some "Watzke" changing to "Vasco".[1]
There are also Spanish cognate surnames Velasco or Velázquez.[2]
List of people with this surname
- Ana Ines Vazquez, Genetics and Genomics Researcher.
- Andres Vasquez (born 1987), Peruvian-born Swedish football midfielder.
- Andrew Vasquez, Native American flute player
- Angie Vázquez (born 2001), Mexican singer
- Catalina Vasquez Villalpando (born 1940), treasurer of the United States
- Christian Vásquez (born 1984), Venezuelan conductor
- Christian Vasquez (born 1977), Filipino actor
- Dolors Vázquez Aznar (1955–2014), Spanish painter
- Domingo Vásquez (1846–1909), president of Honduras 1893–1894
- Eric Vasquez (born 1982), American soccer player
- Fabio Vásquez Castaño (1940–2019), Colombian rebel and revolutionary
- Fernando Vázquez (born 1954), Spanish football manager
- Fran Vázquez (born 1983), Spanish basketball player
- Franco Vázquez (born 1989), Italo-Argentine footballer
- Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish conquistador
- Gabriel Vásquez (1549–1604), Spanish Jesuit theologian
- Gaddi Vasquez (born 1955), 8th United States Representative to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
- Greivis Vásquez (born 1987), Venezuelan basketball player
- Guillermo Vazquez (born 1964), Cuba, American scientist entrepreneur
- Horacio Vásquez (1860–1936), Dominican general and political figure
- Ignacio Vázquez (footballer, born 1971), Mexican football (soccer) player
- Israel Vázquez (born 1977), Mexican boxer
- Javier Vázquez (born 1976), Puerto Rican-American baseball pitcher
- Jhonen Vasquez (born 1974), Californian cartoonist
- Jorge Vásquez (born 1978), major league baseball pitcher
- Jorge Vázquez (born 1982), New York Yankees minor league first baseman
- Jorge Vázquez Viaña (1939–1967), Bolivian revolutionary
- Joseph Vásquez (1962–1995), American independent filmmaker
- Juan Vásquez (composer), Spanish priest and composer of the renaissance
- Juan T. Vázquez Martín (born 1940), Cuban abstract painter
- Juanes (born 1972), full name Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez (Vásquez is his second, or matrilineal, last name), Colombian rock musician
- Julio César Vásquez (born 1965), professional boxer in the super middleweight (168 lb) division
- Junior Vasquez (born 1949), New York City club DJ and remixer/producer
- La La (entertainer) (born 1979), Puerto Rican MTV VJ
- Louis Vásquez (1798–1868), a mountain man and trader from Missouri
- Lucas Vásquez de Ayllón (c. 1480–1526), Spanish explorer
- Lucas Vázquez (born 1991), Spanish footballer
- Luis Vasquez (born 1986), American football player
- Manuel Vázquez Gallego (1930–1995), Spanish comic artist and writer
- Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (1939–2003), Spanish writer
- Mario Vazquez (born 1977), New York Puerto Rican singer, from American Idol
- Martín Vásquez (born 1963), Mexican soccer player, also played for US team
- Mona Vasquez (1960–2011), French critic of Scientology
- Myrna Vázquez (1935-1975), Puerto Rican actress and Boston activist
- Orlando Vásquez (weightlifter, born 1969), Nicaraguan weightlifter
- Ramón Vázquez (born 1976), American baseball player
- Randy Vasquez (born 1961), American actor
- Rafael Vásquez (disambiguation), multiple people
- Rafael Martín Vázquez (born 1965), Spanish footballer
- Roberta Vasquez (born 1963), Cuban-American model, actress and Playboy playmate
- Roberto Vásquez (born 1983), southpaw boxer in the flyweight division
- Sam Vasquez (1972–2007), American MMA fighter
- Sebastián Vázquez (basketball) (born 1985), Uruguayan basketball player
- Tabaré Vázquez (born 1940), President of Uruguay
- Tiburcio Vásquez (1835–1875), Mexican bandit
- Victor Vazquez (born 1983), better known as Kool A.D., American musician and artist
- Víctor Vázquez (artist), Puerto Rican photographer and conceptual artist
- Víctor Vázquez Rosales (born 1989), Spanish footballer
- Víctor Vázquez Solsona (born 1987), Spanish footballer
- Walter Vásquez Vejarano (born 1932), Peruvian lawyer, politician and President of the Supreme Court
- Wanda Vázquez, former Puerto Rico's Secretary of Justice, politician and Governor of Puerto Rico
References
- Genealogical research of the Watzke family; also personal account by Flavio Watzka of Barcelona.
- Ferreiro, M. Gramática Histórica Galega, pp.84, ISBN 84-87847-68-4