Morales History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Spain

Etymology of Morales

What does the name Morales mean?

Noble surnames, such as Morales, evoke images of the ancient homeland of the Spanish people. The original bearer of the name Morales, which is a local surname, once lived, held land, or was born in the beautiful region of Spain. This noble Spanish family lived near a mulBerry or blackberry bush. Thus, Morales is a topographic surname, which is the type of local surname that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. The name was originally derived from the Spanish word "mora," which means "mulberry."

Early Origins of the Morales family

The surname Morales was first found in Castile, prominent among the Christian kingdoms of medieval Spain.

Early History of the Morales family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Morales research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1232 is included under the topic Early Morales History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Morales Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Morales, Moral, Morilla, Morillas, Moraleda and others.

Early Notables of the Morales family

Prominent among members of the family

were sixteenth century Spanish painter Luis de Morales
sixteenth century Spanish historian Ambrosio de Morales y Oliva
seventeenth century Spanish playwright Cristóbal de Morales
seventeenth century Spanish nobleman and court official Lope de Morales
nineteenth century Spanish actress and singer Manuela Morales

Morales World Ranking

In the United States, the name Morales is the 136^th most popular surname with an estimated 166,629 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Morales is ranked the 1,499^th most popular surname with an estimated 3,905 people with that name. 2 And in South America, the name Morales is the 57^th popular surname with an estimated 72 people with that name. 3

Morales migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Morales Settlers in United States in the 15th Century

Andrés Morales (1477-1517), who accompanied Columbus on his third expedition to America in 1498

Morales Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Isabel de Morales, went to New Spain in 1562
Gabriel de Morales, moved to Honduras in 1563
Elvira de Morales,settled in New Spain in 1566 with her children Cristóbal and Francisca

Morales Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Manuel Morales, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1802 4
Miguel De Morales, who landed in America in 1811 4
Ines De Morales, who landed in America in 1813 4
Anton De Morales, who arrived in America in 1814 4
Jose Miguel Morales, aged 23, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1821 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Morales migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 5

Morales Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century

Alonso De Morales, who arrived in Dominican Republic in 1834 4
Diego De Morales, who landed in Cuba in 1834 4
Marco Antonio De Morales, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1834 4
Sancho De Morales, who arrived in Dominican Republic in 1834 4
Juan Morales, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1837 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Morales (post 1700) +

Adele Carolyn Morales (1925-2015), American painter and memoirist, second wife of American author-playwright Norman Mailer (1923-2007)
Pablo Morales (b. 1964), American Olympic swimmer
David Sánchez Morales (1925-1978), American Central Intelligence Agency operative who worked in Cuba
Aureo Diaz Morales, American politician, Member of Virgin Islands legislature, 1965-70 6
José Jurado Morales (b. 1900), Spanish poet and journalist
Fabio de Jesús Morales Grisales (1934-2025), Colombian Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Mocoa-Sibundoy from 1991 to 2003
Juan Evo Morales Ayma (b. 1959), Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist, 65th President of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019, believed to be the first president to come from its indigenous population
María Antonia Morales (1931-2024), Chilean jurist, Minister of the Supreme Court of Chile from 2001 to 2006, the first woman to be appointed to this office
Tomás Osvaldo González Morales (1935-2022), Chilean Roman Catholic bishop
Carmen Morales (1939-2021), Argentine comic actress of film, stage and television
... (Another 12 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
"List of most common surnames in South America." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames_in_South_America
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 10) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html