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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Spanish (Gálvez) : patronymic from the medieval personal name Galve (Arabic Ghālib ‘triumphant’), which was borne by various Moorish chieftains in Spanish history and legend, notably the father-in-law of Al-Mansūr, the 10th-century vizier of Córdoba.
  • General Bernardo de Gálvez was Spanish governor of LA in 1777, and fought against the British in the American Revolution. The city of Galveston, TX, is named for him.

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