107,806 Global ALVARADO Family Members

ALVARADO Family History

This is a famous Spanish locational surname. It derives from a place called Alvarado, which translates as 'the place on the hot plain' or similar. Rather more interestingly this is one the first, and indeed may even be the first, Spanish hereditary surname to be recorded in America. In fact its recordings pre-date the formation of the American State, and originate from the time when Mexico, as part of the Spanish Empire, controlled what is now California. The modern state of California only joined the new USA in 1850, and then as a result of the 1849 Gold Rush. California was originally called 'New Albion' by the Elizabethan explorer and occasional pirate Sir Francis Drake, who landed there in 1579...