Family name?

Question:does anyone know anything about my family name, Villanueva? i really want to know more about it.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: does anyone know anything about my family name, Villanueva? i really want to know more about it.

Villanueva is not a basque surname, is clearly a spanish one, the meaning of Villanueva is VILLA: Town, and NUEVA: NEW, is composed by two spanish words, Basque language is totally different from spanish VILLA or TOWN is URI or IRI, and NUEVA or NEW is BARRI or BERRI, as you can see, in many aspects spanish is more simmilar to english (Villa-Village, Nuevo-New) than to basque language.

In Spain there are many places with the name Villanueva, but most of them has a composed name Example: Villanueva de Arakil, or Villanueva del Rio or.....

In any case there has been since old times, families with this surname in the Basque Country.

One of the Greater authors about basque surname is Jaime Kerexeta, and he says in his book "Diccionario Onomastico y Heraldico vasco" VILLANUEVA: Is a linage originated in Aragon (Spain), there has been branches in the Basque Country (Spanish and French Basque Country) in Uhartehiri (Basse-Navarre-France), Gipuzkoa, Gordexola (Bizkaia), and Araba. In Onate (Gipuzkoa Province, Basque Country) lived a man surnamed Villanueva in 1388.

So, although the origin of the surname is not basque (since a linguistical point of view), there has been Villanueva families in the Basque Country (in all the basque provinces since long time ago), this make possible that the Villanueva you are speaking about, was a basque, there was a lot of Basque people in Philippines, I know a basque familie that had plantations in Negros, their surname is GAMBOA, and a woman of this familie is married with a man surnamed Villanueva (I don't think he has any relation with Philippines).

Hope this helps

This is what www.ancestry.com has to say about the name,
Villanueva
habitational name from any of the numerous places named Villanueva, from Spanish villa ‘(outlying) farmstead’, ‘(dependent) settlement’ + nueva (feminine) ‘new’ (Latin nova).
Castilianized spelling of Catalan and Galician Vilanova, a habitational name from a frequent place name, of the same derivation as 1 above.
hope this helps.

The (long ago ) origin of the name/words are of the Spanish language.
This is often confused with the origin or location of a family and ancestors. Settlers from Spain traveled all over the world ie Phillipines, South America etc, had families there.
The first is tracing the word, while tracing your ancestry and heritage has to do with the persons, who are actually your relatives. You won't be related to everyone who has your surname. If you trace back to (for example) a certain town in one place, you are more likely to be related, but even that is not a guarantee. Our name is Caldwell, which is common.. we won't be related to one who lives next to us, even.
If it seems overwhelming to figure how you relate to anyone, or where to look.. you ALWAYS start with you, show how you are related to your immediate family (parents and siblings). Then to your grandparents, and great grandparents. By using specific records (and building ONLY backwards) you will know exactly which record and where, to find the parents of your grandfather. Same for the next generation from him.
For example.. if you already have a record showing grandpa (grandma so forth) was born in Manila (Phillipines), you will not be looking at the Villanuevas in Houston, Tex.
It is very hard (at the beginning) to get people to know that tracing the NAME and tracing THEIR FAMILY are two things entirely/

this kid at my schol has that last name