Searching for Veguilla family roots in Spain

Veguilla · Post by **Veguilla** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 1:55 pm

Greetings all!
My name is Tony Veguilla and I live in Oklahoma City US. I've been rigorously searching for my family's roots for about three months before discovering this site. The reason I became a member is because I have located my surname in Cantabria and was curious as to whether the name exists in Asturia as well. In Cantabria there is a town of the same name in the Central Coast region near Torrlavega and Reocin. The other town is located in the Valle de Soba. I've looked up current residents via the Blanca Pages and it seems that the only residents reside in Madrid and Cadiz. However, I have read how many northern Spaniards emmigrated to Cuba, Puerto rico (Where my family lived before the States) and other locations in latin America. Since many Spanish surnames designate origin, then I figured that Northern Spain would be a good starting point. My name is relatively rare (aside from all 300 of my cousins) so I wonder if any members here have heard of it and if so what they can tell me about it. Thank you!
Tony Veguilla
-------------------------------------------
Traducción Terechu

Saludos a todos,
Me llamo Tony Veguilla y vivo en Oklahoma City, USA. He estado buscando las raíces de mi familia rigurosamente durante 3 meses antes de dar con este sitio. El motivo de que me haya hecho miembro es porque he localizado mi apellido en Cantabria y tenía curiosidad por saber si existe en Asturias también. En CAntabria existe una localidad de este nombre en la costa central cerca de Torrelavega y Reocín. El otro pueblo está en el valle del Soba. He buscado en las Páginas Blancas y parece que los únicos residentes están en Madrid y Cádiz. Sin embargo, he leído cuántos españoles del norte emigraron a Cuba y Puerto Rico (donde residía mi familia antes de los EE.UU.) y otros países de América Latina. Dado que muchos apellidos españoles apuntan a un origen, pensé que el norte de España sería un buen punto de partida. Mi apellido es relativamente raro (aparte de mis 300 primos), de manera que me gustaría saber si algún miembro lo ha oído alguna vez y qué me pueden contar sobre él. Gracias!
Tony Veguilla

Terechu · Post by **Terechu** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 4:52 pm

Hi Tony,
Veguilla is derived from "vega" (water meadow - flat, grassy river bank) and means literally "little water meadow".
In other words, there are probably scores of little towns by that name. I don't mean to discourage you, but you have to look further. One thing is sure, however, it is not Asturian. The suffix -illa is frequently used in Castille and Andalusia, so, as you mention, you will find people by that surname in Madrid and Andalusia.

Cheers
Terechu

Post by **Art** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:19 pm

If Veguilla is Castilian, his family could still be Cantabrian or Asturian, couldn't it?

Are the words "veiguiella", "veiguela", and "veguiña" related, Terechu? I see villages in Asturias with those names.

By the way, Tony, Asturias used to extend into what is now Cantabria, at least as far as Santiana del Mar (I think). I'm not sure, but I don't think it went as far as Torrelavega in recent times.

Can someone else tell us how much of Cantabria had and has Asturian culture?

-------------

Si Veguilla no es castellano, su family todavía puede ser de Cantabria o Asturias, ¿verdad?

Terechu, ¿son relacionadas las palabras "veiguiella", "veiguela", y "veguiña"? Veo que hay poblaciones que llevan esos nombres.
Tony, a propósito, Asturias extendía a la corazón de lo que ahora es Cantabria hasta Santiana del Mar, al menos (creo). No estoy seguro, pero no creo que extendía hasta Torrelavega en tiempos modernos.

Me encantaría si alguien pueda explicar la extensión de la cultura asturiana hasta Cantabria en tiempos modernos y antiguos.

Terechu · Post by **Terechu** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:20 pm

Art, of course his family could be from Asturias or Cantabria, but the surname "Veguilla" itself is not Asturian, simply because we do not use the suffix "-illa", which is of Arab origin. We would use "-ina" (or -iña in western Asturias), in other words "Veguina". The ones you mention are also derived from "Vega".

As to Cantabria, I'm no expert in their history, but it was part of the Roman's "Asturias Trasmontana", then part of the Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages, and as the Christian reconquest advanced and Christian kingdoms formed it became part of the Kingdom of Castille (together with Asturias, León, Vizcaya, etc.) and remained part of Castille until the end of the Franco Regime, when it became an autonomous community.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Art, por supuesto que su familia podría ser de Asturias o Cantabria. pero el apellido Veguilla propiamente dicho no es asturiano, sencillamente porque aquí no se emplea el sufijo "-illa", de origen árabe. Se emplearía "-ina" (o -iña en el Occidente de Asturias), o sea "Veguina". Las que tu mencionas también provienen de "vega".

En cuanto a Cantabria, no soy experta en su historia, pero fue parte de la Asturias Trasmontana de los romanos, luego parte del Reino de Asturias en la Edad Media, y a medida que fue avanzando la reconquista y se fueron formando reinos cristianos, se convirtió en parte del Reino de Castilla (junto con Asturias, León, Vizcaya, etc) hasta el final de régimen de Franco, cuando se convirtió en comunidad autónoma.

Terechu

Berodia · Post by **Berodia** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:40 pm

Del reino de Asturias, tras el traslado de la capital de Oviedo a Leon, se paso al reino de Leon. Luego, Asturias, fue dividida administrativamente en dos, Asturias de Oviedo y de Santillana (del mar), que como dicen por allí, ni es santa, ni llana, ni tiene mar. Con un limite cambiante, según que mapa el limite estaba en el sella, o más al oeste, o más al este. Luego en el afán expansionista de Castilla, mientras Asturias de Oviedo seguía dependiendo de Leon, la de Santillana paso a depender directamente de Castilla. El limite este estaba mas o menos a la altura de Santander, lindando con Vizcaya, luego se creo las Cuatro Villas a costa de Vizcaya. Más tarde, se unio las cuatro villas, Transmiera, y Santillana para crear la Montaña, nombre por el que se conocio esa zona durante mucho tiempo. Luego con la creación en el XIX de las modernas provincias, el limite se fijo en el Deva, al borde de la costa, y entre Cabrales y Peñamellera, más al interior. Alfonso XIII reincorpora las Peñamelleras a Asturias. Mientras el termino Asturias perdura durante decenas de siglos, el de Cantabria, excepto alguna mención en el primer milenio, es de utilización reciente (25 años). En cuenta a una zona cultural de predominio de lo Asturiano, esta desbordaría ampliamente nuestras fronteras. Ocuparía gran parte del norte de León, el valle de Laciana, Babia, Luna, Sajambre, Valdeón, y el oeste de la provincia de Santander, hasta Santillana mas o menos, así como la Liebana y la antigua Transmiera.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Translation Terechu

The Kingdom of Asturias became the Kingdom of León after its capital was moved from Oviedo to León. Then Asturias was divided in two for administrative purposes, Asturias de Oviedo and Asturias de Santillana (del Mar)* - which, as they say over there, is neither saintly, nor flat, nor by the sea. It had a changing border; depending on which map you look, the boundary was the Sella river, or a little farther east, or a little more to the west. Then during the expansion of the Kingdom of Castille, while the Asturias de Oviedo remained dependent on León, the Asturias of Santillana went on to depend directly on Castille. The boundary was more or less where the city of Santander is located, bordering on Biscay, then the Four Cities were established at the expense of Biscay. Still later the Four Cities were joined by Trasmiera and Santillana to become "La Montaña", by which name that region was known for a long time. In the 19th Century, with the creation of our modern day provinces, the boundary was fixed at the Deva river on the coast and Cabrales and Peñamellera farther inland.
King Alfonso XIII returned the two Peñamelleras to Asturias. While the name of Asturias has lived on for centuries, the name of Cantabria is only of recent use (25 years), except for some mentions in the first century a.D.
As far as an area of Asturian cultural predominance, such area would widely surpass our borders. It would occupy a large part of northern León, i.e. the Laciana Valley, Babia, Luna, Sajambre, Valdeón and the western portion of the former Santander province (today's Cantabria) through Santillana more or less, as well as La Liébana and the ancient Transmiera.

________________________________________________________
* common joke about Santillana del Mar = Saintly Flat One by the Sea
In reality it derives from Sancta Iuliana (St. Julianne)

Post by **Art** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:31 pm

¡Muy interesante! Gracias por decirnos de la historia y la extensión de la cultura asturiana.

-----------------

Very interesting! Thanks for telling us about the history and extent of Asturiian culture.

Veguilla · Post by **Veguilla** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 4:15 pm

Wow, Great for that info! I have done some research and it seems that the town (I suppose is technically a town) Veguilla in the Soba Valley, Cantabria has Roman structures. In other sources the name itself is Pre-roman and that's about it. Thanks for the variations. I can cross reference those as well.
Tony Veguilla