Diaz 993184 223161027 2008-07-02T20:54:17Z 83.83.251.237 /* Notable people sharing the surname Diaz or Díaz */ {{otheruses}} {{Family name | name = Diaz | image = Spanish surnames by province of residence.png | caption = <small>Diaz | meaning = "Son of Jacob" | region = [[Spain]] | origin = [[Spanish]] | related names = Díaz (diacritical form), [[Dias]] }} '''Diaz''' (or '''Díaz''') is a common [[Spanish name|Spanish surname]] meaning "Son of [[Jacob]]".{{Fact|date=May 2008}} The name accounts for ~0.74% of the Spanish population, ranking 14th most frequently found surname in both 1999 and 2004 (Mateos & Tucker 2008, OcioTotal 1999). Compare this to the most popular Spanish surname of those years, [[García (surname)|Garcia]], which accounted for ~3.48% of the population. ==Variants and related names== There is minor evidence that Díez may be equivalent to Díaz, in the form of Spanish language listing of most frequent surnames in 1999 Spain (OcioTotal 1999). However, a 2008 in-press academic manuscript about Spanish naming in 2004 suggests otherwise, listing statistics for "Diaz" and "Diez" separately (Mateos & Tucker 2008). In relation to descent from the Biblical names [[James (name)|James]] and [[Jacob (name)|Jacob]], it has been surmised that ''Diaz'' is a corruption of [[Diego]] from [[Iago (disambiguation)|Iago]] (Smith 1986). A second source suggests ''Diaz'' as being derived from a Gothic form of the paternal [[genitive case|genitive]] of [[Dia]], as in "Dia's child", or [[Diag]], [[Diago]] or Diego (Dixon 1857). ==Usage== ''Diaz'' and the diacritical form ''Díaz'' appear to be surnames only, without evidence for use as given names. Use of ''Diaz'' may arise through [[Anglicization]] of Portuguese language ''[[Dias]]'', as in the case of [[Bartolomeu Dias]], born c. 1450.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Many examples of the surnames ''Diaz'' and ''Díaz'' exist among historically notable people. Among the earliest such examples is [[El Cid]], who was born c.1044 as ''Rodrigo Díaz'' (Catholic Encyclopedia 1913). There is at least one instance of use as a single name, the former Norwegian rap artist [[Diaz (musician)|Diaz]] (b. 1976 Norway), who was born to a Spanish father and Norwegian mother; his birth name was "Andres Rafael Diaz Rosa".{{Fact|date=April 2008}} ===Frequency=== In [[Latin America]], the diacritical form ''Díaz'' was among the top 25% of surnames in use based on a study conducted in 1987 by the [[Institute for Genealogy and History for Latin America]] (De Platt 1996, pages 31&ndash;32). Spanish surnames, including ''Diaz'', are found more abundantly in Southern [[Italy]] than other non-Italian surnames as a result of the [[Early Modern Italy#Aftermath of the Italian Wars|domination of Italy by Spain during the 17<sup>th</sup> Century]] (Fucilla 1949). The following matrix contains available information on the frequency of this surname in various countries across a span of years. {| class="wikitable" |- !Country!!1880&ndash;1889!!1960&ndash;1969!!1990&ndash;1999!!2000&ndash;2009 |- |[[Australia]]|| || || ||2002: 0.008% (rank ?)(c) |- |[[New Zealand]]|| || || ||2002: 0.002% (rank ?)(c) |- |[[Spain]]|| || ||1999: 0.74% (rank 14)(a)||2004: na% (rank 14)(b) |- |[[United Kingdom]]||1881: na% (rank 23,037)(c)|| ||1998: 0.001% (rank 10,773)(c)|| |- |[[United States]]|| ||1964: 0.047% (rank 335)<ref>Rank 16 among Hispanic-Americans (De Platt 1996, pages 15&ndash;16)</ref> ||1990: 0.084% (rank 99)(d)<br>1990: 0.014% (rank ?)(c)||2000: 0.18% (rank 73)(d) |} <!-- based on notable biographies, at least the following countries should be added to this table if possible: Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Philippines --> Reference codes, see [[#References]]: (a)=OcioTotal 1999, (b)=Mateos & Tucker 2008, (c)=Longley, ''et al.'', (d)=United States Census Bureau 1995, (e)=United States Census Bureau 2000 Several assessed countries have shown no instances of this surname, among these being [[Northern Ireland]], [[Republic of Ireland]] and [[Scotland]] (Bowie 2003; Longley, ''et al.''). ==Transliteration== It has been noted that ''Diaz'' may be subject to transcription errors and mistaken as ''Eliaz'', which may subsequently be equated with ''Heliaz'', in manuscripts dating from the 15<sup>th</sup> Century, the same holding true for ''Dias'', ''Elias'' and ''Helias'' (Carr 1999). ==Notable people sharing the surname ''Diaz'' or ''Díaz''== Owing to the common nature of this surname, there are many notable people who share it. Among the most notable from that throng are * [[El Cid]] (11<sup>th</sup> Century), born ''Rodrigo Díaz'', conquerer and subsequent ruler of [[Valencia, Spain]] * [[Bartholomew Diaz]] (15<sup>th</sup> Century), the anglicized form of the name, who was the first European known to have sailed around the Western tip of [[Africa]] * [[Bernal Díaz del Castillo]] (16<sup>th</sup> Century), who provided an eye witness narrative for the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|destruction of the Aztec Empire by Spanish ''conquistadors'']] * [[José E. Díaz]] (19<sup>th</sup> Century), hero of the [[War of the Triple Alliance]] and appearing on the 100 [[Paraguayan guaraní]] coin * [[Porfirio Díaz]] (19<sup>th</sup> Century), President of Mexico following the [[French intervention in Mexico]] * [[Gloria Diaz]] (20<sup>th</sup> Century), the first Filipino to bring home the [[Miss Universe]] crown. * [[Matthew Diaz]] (20<sup>th</sup> Century), American military lawyer responsible for the release of the identities of detainees at the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] to the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]] * [[Cameron Diaz]] (21st</sup> Century), Actress ==See also== * [[Spanish naming customs]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== <div class="references-small"> * {{cite paper |last= Bowie |first= Neil |coauthors= G W L Jackson |title= Surnames in Scotland over the last 140 years |version= |pages= |publisher= General Register Office for Scotland |date= 2003-02-18 |url= http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/occpapers/surnames-in-scotland-over-the-last-140-years.html |format= HTML |accessdate= 2008-05-01 }} * {{cite book |last= Carr |first= Derek C. |editor= Auguste Elfriede Christa Canitz and Gernot Rudolf Wieland |title= From Arabye to Engelond |origyear= 1999 |origmonth= March |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=jkqQIsVPHJgC |format= HTML |accessdate= 2008-05-01 |publisher= University of Ottawa Press |isbn= 0776605178 |pages= pages 56&ndash;57 (Note 16) |chapter= Arabic and Hebrew ''auctoritates'' in the Works of Enrique de Villena }} * ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' (1913). [[s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/El Cid]]. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. * {{cite book |last= De Platt |first= Lyman |title= Hispanic Surnames and Family History |origyear= 1996 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=xxcSboo5KTAC |format= HTML |accessdate= 2008-04-30 |edition= 1st edition |series= The Hispanic Book of Generations |volume= 1 |publisher= Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn= 080631480X }} * {{cite book |last= Dixon |first= Bernard Homer |title= Surnames |origyear= 1857 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=_2oCAAAAQAAJ |format= HTML |accessdate= 2998-04-30 |edition= 2nd edition |date= 2006-08-08 |publisher= Google Books |pages= page 20 }} * {{cite book |last= Fucilla |first= Joseph Guerin |title= Our Italian Surnames |origyear= 1949 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=Qmg6DfzFP9cC |format= HTML |accessdate= 2008-04-30 |edition= reprint |year= 1987 |publisher= Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn= 0806311878 |pages= page 109, footnote 6 }} * {{cite web |url= http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk/ |title= Diaz |accessdate= 2008-05-01 |last= Longley |first= Paul |coauthors= Alex Singleton, Richard Webber and Daryl Lloyd |work= [http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/news/newsStory.asp?ID=151 SPLINT Project, University College London] |publisher= [[The National Trust]] }} '''Note''': Attempts to link directly to search results pages result in failure to find the site. * {{cite journal |last= Mateos |first= Pablo |coauthors= Ken Tucker |year= 2008 |title= Forenames and Surnames in Spain in 2004 |journal= Names A Journal of Onomastics |volume= (in press) |url= http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk/pablo/papers/Mateos%20and%20Tucker%20(2008)%20Forenames%20and%20Surname%20in%20Spain%20in%202004.pdf |format = PDF |accessdate= 2008-04-28 }} * {{cite web |url= http://www.ociototal.com/recopila2/r_aficiones/apellidos.html |title= Los 40 apellidos mas comunes en España |accessdate=2008-04-28 |author= OcioTotal |date= 1999-12-01 |work= Genealogía y heráldica |publisher= OcioTotal.com |language= Spanish }} * {{cite book |last= Smith |first= Elsdon Coles |title= American Surnames |origyear= 1986 |year = 1986 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=OfHBWBK1wQQC |format= HTML |accessdate= 2008-04-27 |publisher= Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn= 0806311509 |pages= 63&ndash;64 |chapter= Surnames From Father's Name }} * [[United States Census Bureau]] (9 May 1995). [[s:1990 Census Name Files dist.all.last (1-100)]]. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. * {{cite web |url= http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/Top1000.xls |title= Top 1000 Names |accessdate= 2008-05-01 |author= United States Census Bureau |year= 2000 |work= Frequently Occurring Surnames From Census 2000 |format= XLS |publisher= U.S. Department of Commerce }} </div> ==External links== * A history of the ''Díaz'' surname compiled by the [[Institute for Genealogy and History for Latin America]] is available for a fee. See pages 38 and 39 of http://books.google.com/books?id=xxcSboo5KTAC for more information. {{surname|nocat}} [[Category:Spanish surnames]] [[de:Diaz]] [[es:Díaz (apellido)]] [[fr:Diaz]] [[it:Diaz]] [[ja:ディアス]] [[nl:Diaz]]