Ojeda

This surname is of Spanish habitational origins. It describes a person who lived on the river Ojeda in the province of Soria. The derivation is from the ancient Latin 'folia', meaning leaves. This suggests that originally the river flowed through banks of trees, or possibly that at certain times of the year it was choked with leaves, although this seems unlikely. The original recording as shown below with its preposition 'de' suggests that the nameholders were landowners of status, since from time immemorial aristocracy and the landed gentry in all European countries have used this designation. Examples of the surname recordings taken from authentic records both in Europe and the Americas include Juan Gabriel Ojeda, christened at Monterey, California, in 1760, (exact date unknown), and Garcia Ojeda, at christened at Asuncion, Districto Federal, Mexico, on March 16th 1776. Other recordings include Cervantes Ojeda, at Santa Catarina, Mexico, on April 8th 1781, and Jose Ma Ojeda, christened at Santa Barbara, California, on March 1st 1800. The coat of arms has the blazon of a gold field, charged with three gold crosses on a red bend. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jazinta de Ojeda, which was dated November 26th 1716, christened at Villapalacio, Albacete, Spain, during the reign of King Phillip V of Spain, Emperor of Mexico, 1700 - 1724. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.