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Updated August 21, 2024

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Spanish (Hernández) and Jewish (Sephardic) : patronymic from the personal name Hernando (see Fernando). This surname also became established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.

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