Valdés (surname)

Valdés is a Spanish toponymic surname of Asturian origin. Its appearance has been dated back to the times of the Reconquista in the municipality of Valdés, Asturias, where the eponymous lineage began. The área around the current town of Luarca was known as Val de Ese, "valley of the river Ese", as attested in medieval documents.^[1] This river would later be known as the Esva River. According to Luis de Valdés' Memorias (1622), the river itself took its name from the letter s (ese in Spanish) due to its similar shape, although this is considered unlikely.^[1]

During medieval times the surname was taken by many families living in the area around Luarca, which make is difficult to establish demarcations between families of the time.^[1] By the 14th century, the surname had spread throughout the Kingdom of Castile, and later all of the Iberian peninsula. During the colonization of the Americas, the surname became established there, where many variations appeared, such as Valdez (by analogy with the Spanish patronymic -ez).

The French surname Valdès or Vaudès, from Peter Valdes, founder of the Waldensian religious movement, is unrelated to the Spanish surname. Instead, it derived from the Latin Valdesius, which referred to Vaulx-en-Velin, Lyon, his place of origin.^[2]

People with the surname Valdés

• Al Valdes, Canadian football player
• Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán, Spanish naval officer
• Bebo Valdés (1918–2013), Cuban pianist
• Carlos "Patato" Valdés (1926–2007), Cuban conga player
• Cayetano Valdés y Flores (1767–1834), Spanish naval officer and explorer
• Chucho Valdés (born 1941), Cuban pianist
• Fernando de Valdés y Llanos (1575–1639), Archbishop of Granada
• Fernando de Valdés y Salas (1483–1568), Spanish churchman and jurist
• Francisco Fellove Valdés (1923–2013), Cuban songwriter and singer
• Germán Valdés (1915–1973), Mexican actor, singer and comedian
• Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (1478–1557), Spanish historian
• Hernán Valdés (born 1934), Chilean writer
• Israel López Valdés (1918–2008), Cuban bassist and composer
• Jerónimo Valdés (1785–1855), Spanish general and governor of Cuba
• Juan de Valdés (1500–1541), Spanish religious writer
• Juan de Valdés Leal (1622–1690), Spanish painter
• Juan Meléndez Valdés (1754–1817), Spanish poet
• José Ramón Guizado Valdés (1899–1964), President of Panama 1955
• Merceditas Valdés (1922–1996), Cuban singer
• Miguel Alemán Valdés (1902–1983), President of Mexico 1946–1952
• Orestes López Valdés (1908–1991), Cuban musician and composer
• Pedro de Valdés (1544–1615), Governor of Cuba 1600–1607
• Pedro Valdés (born 1973), Mexican baseball player
• Ramón Maximiliano Valdés, President of Panama 1916–1918
• Ramón Valdés (1923–1988), Mexican actor
• Roy Valdés (born 1920), Cuban baseball player
• Víctor Valdés (born 1982), Spanish football goalkeeper
• Viengsay Valdés (born 1976), Cuban ballerina
• Zoé Valdés (born 1959), Cuban writer

Fictional characters

• Cecilia Valdés, Cuban novel and zarzuela character
• Elpidio Valdés, Cuban comic character

People with the surname Valdez

• Basil Valdez, (born 1951), Filipino balladeer
• Chayito Valdez (1945–2016), Mexican musician and entertainer
• Cynthia Valdez (born 1987), Mexican rhythmic gymnast
• José Travassos Valdez (1787–1862), Portuguese soldier and statesman
• Juan Valdez, colonial governor of Texas 1714–1716
• Nelson Haedo Valdez (born 1983), Paraguayan footballer
• Patssi Valdez (born 1951), American Chicana artist and founding member of the art collective, Asco
• Rodrigo Valdez (1946–2017), Colombian boxer
• Wendy Valdez (born 1982), Filipina beauty queen, former reality star, and actress
• Wilmar Valdez (born 1965), Uruguayan football executive

Fictional characters

• Juan Valdez, a character appearing in advertisements for Colombian coffee
• Leo Valdez, a character appearing in novels by Rick Riordan

References