ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2182 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2182 ************************************ 29 Dec 2000 From: Judith Phillips Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know the origin of the Spanish or Catalan surname . Here is the information we have found. was originally a Spanish locative surname (a surname that identifies someone based on his place of origin or residence). There is a borough in Asturias (NW Spain) called [1]; we don't know how old that name is, but it may well be the origin of . We found the personal surname as or in Spain in the 15th century; the slash represents an accent over the previous letter. [2,3] We also found a Portuguese explorer named , who died in 1615. His surname is also spelled . [4] We believe that the name was pronounced \kee-ROHSS\ in Renaissance Spanish, although the modern Castilian pronounciation is \kee-ROHTH\. It is possible that you have an ancestor who lived in a place in northwestern Spain that was called ; but there are lots of other possibilities. Discovering the origin of your family's name would require tracing your ancestry back to the first person who bore the name. That sort of research is beyond the Academy's scope. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter were provided by Maridonna Benvenuti, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Pedro de Alcazar, Adelaide de Beaumont, Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, and Arval Benicoeur. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Adeliza de Saviniaco 29 December 2000 --------------------------------------- References: [1] "Informacio/n sobre Asturias: Asturias Interior y: Route 3. Oviedo, Teverga, Quiros" (WWW: Universidad de Oviedo) http://www1.uniovi.es/asturias/asturias-y-rutas/route3-inland.html [2] Juliana de Luna, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999-2000) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/juliana/isabella/ [3] Romera Iruela, Luis, and Ma. del Carmen Galbis Di/ez, _Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias, Siglos XVI, XVII, y XVIII_ (Sevilla: Archivo General de Indias, 1980). vol. II & III [4] Queiro/s, Pedro Fernandes de, _ The voyages of Quiros, 1595-1606. Vol. I/II.._ (Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1967).