Zavaleta
Zavaleta (or Zabaleta) is a surname of Basque origin. The Basque are a people indigenous to areas of northern Spain and southern France, an historical region known as Basque Country.
Origin and meaning
Zavaleta (Zabaleta) includes a lexeme ("zabal", 'small square / courtyard' as a noun, according to linguist specialist Koldo Mitxelena) and a suffix ("eta", suffix expressing 'abundance').
Zavaleta vs. Zabaleta
The surname Zabaleta is created in the Basque language by combining the root, Zabal, with the suffix, eta, hence Zabal-eta. The surname Zabaleta was changed in the New World to the Spanish or Castellano variant, where the "b" is changed to a "v", hence Zavaleta. The two spellings are interchangeable and represent one single family worldwide. today, people who spell it Zavaleta are generally from the "New World" while Zabaletas are in Spain or more recent from Spain in the Americas.
Notable people
- Brian Zabaleta: Argentine footballer
- Cara Zavaleta: Model and Reality Star
- Erika Zavaleta: American ecologist and evolutionary biologist
- Eriq Zavaleta: American footballer
- Jorge Zabaleta: Chilean actor
- Mariano Zabaleta: Argentine tennis player
- Marta Zabaleta: Argentine-British author
- Miguel Zavaleta: Argentinian rock musician
- Nicanor Zabaleta: Spanish harpist
- Pablo Zabaleta: Argentine footballer
- Ramón Zavaleta: Peruvian cyclist
- René Zavaleta Mercado: Bolivian politician, sociologist and philosopher
- Susana Zabaleta: Mexican singer and actress
- Ruth Zavaleta: Mexican politician