Ortega (surname)

Ortega
Family name
Meaning	"Urtica", "nettle," from a toponym
Region of origin	Spain; from the Autonomous Communities of: Castile and León, Aragon, Navarre, La Rioja, Cantabria, Basque Country (autonomous community)
Language(s) of origin	Spanish
Related names	de Ortega, Ortegada, Ortegal, Hortega, Ortiga, Ortigueda, Ortigueira, Ortigosa, Orreaga etc.

For other uses, see Ortega (disambiguation).

Ortega is a Spanish surname. In the 9th century a Saint Raymundo Ortega of Bejar was recorded to be in Salamanca, Spain. A baptismal record in 1570 records a de Ortega "from the village of Ortega". There were several villages of this name in Spain. The toponym derives from Latin urtica, meaning "nettle".

Some of the Ortega spelling variants are: Ortega, de Ortega, Ortegada, Ortegal, Hortega, Ortiga, Ortigueda, Ortigueira, Ortigosa, Orreaga, etc. A cognate surname in Italian is Ortica, in Romanian Urzică, in French Ortie, all from Latin urtica.

Origin

Roberto Faure, coauthor of the Diccionario de Apellidos Españoles, states that Ortega is derived from the noun ortega, a spelling variant of the modern Castilian Spanish ortiga "nettle". The name of the plant is found as a toponym in various places in Spain, such as Ortega (Burgos), Ortega (Jaén) or Ortega (Monfero, La Coruña). Mexican author Gutierre Tibón advanced the alternative theory that the name derives from Ortún, earlier Fortún, from the Latin name Fortunius with an added suffix "-eca".^[1] The Dictionary of American Surnames additionally states that the name may derive from ortega: "black grouse."

The first Bishop of Almería, Juan de Ortega, died in the early 16th century, while another early occurrence is found in the baptismal record of Phelpa de Ortega, dated 2 March 1570 at Santa Maria Magdalena, Valladolid, Spain, during the reign of King Philip II of Spain. Other early records are found in Carrión de los Condes, Palencia. The name subsequently appears throughout Spain, especially in Castile, Andalusia and Murcia, as well as México and Latin America.

According to the Diccionario de Heráldica Aragonesa by Bizén d'O Río Martínez, there were two Aragonese lines using the surname, one of which was infanzon. Both lines originated in Cinco Villas and bore coats of arms that were variants of each other. One line is in Gallur in the 18th century, and in Tauste in the 19th century. The other is attested from 1626 in various locations in Aragón.

Coats of arms

Ortega shield (quartered)

There were two arms-bearing families called Ortega. Their coat of arms were as follows:

• Divided horizontally, a gold fleur de lis on a blue background on the left side, and a black wheel on a gold background on the right. The entire shield has a silver border decorated with black ermine marks. These Ortegas were found primarily in Aragón at Gallur, Tauste, and originating in the Cinco Villas.
• Divided in quarters, with the gold fleur de lis on blue in the upper left and lower right, and the black wheel on gold in upper right and lower left. This shield also has the silver ermine border. The full coat of arms includes a helmet with three ostrich feathers and an armored arm holding a sword, above a crown of the Count. These Ortegas came from the Carrión de los Condes in the province of Palencia, moving to Castresana de Losa in the province of Burgos, all in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon, later branching to other autonomous communities in Spain before settling in Aragón, at Cinco Villas. This coat of arms can be found among the Ortegas in the New World, brought by Caballero Don Alonso Ortega in 1536. A native of Portillo, Valladolid, and member of the Order of Calatrava, he came to take part in the conquest of México. After the pacification of Jalisco, he founded a house in México City. This Ortega line is still known as the Condes de Ortigueira y Monterroso, Valle de Oploca y Santa María de Guadalupe del Peñasco.

People named Ortega

Politicians

• Carlos Ortega, Venezuelan union and political leader
• Cynthia Ortega (b. 1956), Dutch politician
• Daniel Ortega (born 1945), past and present President of Nicaragua
• Humberto Ortega, Nicaraguan military leader
• Ivonne Ortega, governor of Yucatán
• Jesús Ortega (born 1952), Mexican left-wing politician
• José Francisco Ortega, (1734–1798), soldier and early settler of California
• Juan Ortega y Montañés (1627–1708), Spanish bishop and colonial administrator
• Katherine D. Ortega (born 1934), 38th treasurer of the United States
• Manuel Medina (politician), Spanish politician

Artists and entertainers

• Fernando Ortega, singer-songwriter
• Jeannie Ortega (born 1986), American actress, dancer and songwriter
• José Gómez Ortega (1895–1920), Spanish matador
• José Ortega Cano (born 1953), Spanish bullfighter
• Kenny Ortega, American producer, director and choreographer
• Leanor Ortega, former member of the group Five Iron Frenzy
• Manuel Ortega (born 1980), Austrian-Spanish singer
• Micah Ortega (born 1976), former guitarist of the group Five Iron Frenzy
• Palito Ortega (born 1941), Argentinian singer
• Rafael Gómez Ortega (1882–1960), Spanish bullfighter
• Santos Ortega (1899–1976), American actor
• Sergio Ortega (1938–2003), Chilean composer and pianist

Sportspeople

• Anita Ortega, UCLA basketball player
• Ariel Ortega (born 1974), Argentinian soccer player
• Buck Ortega, American football player
• José Ortega (boxer) (born 1963), Spanish boxer
• Mauricio Ortega (born 1980), Colombian road cyclist
• Víctor Ortega (born 1988), male diver from Colombia

Other people

• Amancio Ortega Gaona (born 1936), Spanish fashion entrepreneur
• Casimiro Gómez de Ortega, Spanish physician and botanist
• Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino (born 1938), Archbishop of Havana
• José Ortega y Gasset (1883–1955), Spanish philosopher
• Joshua Ortega (born 1974), author and journalist

Fictional characters

• Gael Ortega, in the TV series 24
• Ishmael Ortega, in the Marvel Comics series District X
• Ortega, father of the hero in Dragon Warrior III
• Ortega (Castlevania), character from the Nintendo 64 video game Castlevania
• Victor Ortega, character from the Sega/Super NES video game Saturday Night Slam Masters
• The henchman in The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies who would later become a recurring guest character in Mystery Science Theater 3000
• Ortega Peru, character from Mr. Magoo(1997)
• Captain Ortega, in the TV series The Snorks
• Serge Ortega, in the Well of Souls novel series by Jack L. Chalker

References

1. ^ Origen, Vida y Milagros de su Apellido (1946) Diccionario Etimologico Comparado De Nombres Propios De Personas (1986)

• Gutierre Tibón: "Origen, Vida y Milagros de su Apellido (1946)," "Diccionario Etimologico Comparado De Nombres Propios De Personas (1986)"
• Casa Editora de Genalogia Ibero Americana, A. B. (S. A.)
• Roberto Faure: Diccionario de Apellidos Españoles
• Bizén d'O Río Martínez: Diccionario de Heráldica Aragonesa
• Bernard L. Fontana: "Entrada: The Legacy of Spain and Mexico in the United States"
• Rick McCallister and Silvia McCallister-Castillo: Found under Etruscan in "Compilation and translations from French, Italian and Latin (1999)"
• Foundation for Medieval Genealogy and Charles Cawley: Asturias & Leon, Kings (2006-2008)

External links

• Ortega Surname
• Histories
• redaragon.com
• Ortega History in México
• Paseo genealógico por la Argentina y Bolivia by Juan Isidro Quesada (google books)
• Ortega Royalty
• Another look at Asturias & Leon Kings
• Ortega y Pérez Gallardo, D. Ricardo