Asturian-American Migration Forum

Hi Everyone,

I would like help finding my family in Spain. My great-grandfather Manuel del Arroz was born in a town near Gijón and ended up in Oakland, CA married to Carnación Lazaros, also from Spain. Most Spanish speaking people I know believe my last name is some kind of a joke or just not real. I have found other people in various places that have changed their last name just because they really like rice... The true del Arroz family is supposedly a small family that only exists in the San Francisco Bay Area in California and in Asturias. One of my Tios has been to the town in Asturias and has seen the book of our family history which dates back hundreds of years. However, he was not able to meet any of the family because he had not contacted them beforehand.

As you can imagine, any kind of internet searches for my family result only in food and drink recipes... I've contacted the Spanish government asking for help but have received no response. Do you know of any resources that may help?

Gracias por todo,

Jason del Arroz

Hi, Jason:

Yes, del Arroz does not seem to be a common family name, particularly in Asturias.

Could it be a deformation of "de la Roza"? It is a more common name in Asturias and its spanish pronuntiation is quite similar to "del Arroz".

Have you any other data about your grandfather: the year he went America, the date he was born, the town near Gijón where his family was from, etc?

Marta.

I did not find either "del Arroz" as a surname even in the INE (National Institute of Statistics), so I think Marta Elena is right.

Hello Jason,
I believe that I may have met someone in your family. Do you have a cousin by the name of Robert, whose mother was a Del Arroz and whose father passed away last June? I am the nephew of a longtime friend of Robert's father. My aunt's name is Olga Hasbun (her maiden surname) and she now lives in Louisiana. If that is indeed your cousin, please ask him about my aunt Olga who lived for many years in San Francisco, California. He may also know of Olga's sister by the name of Margot. I hope to hear from you. Sincerely, Jaime CCC

Hello Jason,

I have been putting my thinking cap on to see what I could come up with your surname. Let me tell you that besides surnames like Perez and Martinez that many of us are familiar with, there are also unusual Spanish surnames. Of course some of these are not in the Castillian language -but in other Spanish languages.

I was thinking that perhaps your surname says something about its origin, but I could only find two places in Spain (in Llérida, Cataluña) with the name Arros -with an accent mark over the o (but not your regular Castillian accent mark) and written with an s not a z. This word means rice in Catalan. So I'm thinking that there is the possibility that you had a Catalan ancestor that later migrated to a more Castillian speaking area of Spain and the surname got changed as a result. You have a similar situation with the Castillian surname Bosque, but in Catalan that surname is Bosch, and you have the surname Del Bosque also. So I'm giving you ideas of how you can think about how your surname originated.


Jaime CCC

I know "de la Roz". "Del Arroz" is a deformation, surely.

Hi Jaime,

Please excuse my extremely late reply. Yes Robert is my cousin. Small world! How do you know him? I'll be sure to ask him about your aunt Olga.

Thank you also for your thoughts. We have always just assumed that they were small rice farmers in Spain. My Dad, Robert and my uncle say we're from a small village near Gijon but Cataluña, wow. Could you please share the resources you used to find that information?

Apologies again for the late reply and thank you for your replies. They are very much appreciated!

Marta,

We are trying to build a family tree and figure that information out. Sadly Robert's father was the last one to really know most of the family history. I had the pleasure of meeting him right before he passed but he said that much of the Del Arroz history before they came to CA was not known. The only information we obtained was that my great grandmother's name was Encarnacion Lazaroz and she left Spain during the war, and that my great grandfather was a panadero and opened a Spanish bakery in Oakland.

De la Roza, like rose?

Thank you everyone for your replies. My family and I greatly appreciate it. I will be sure to make updates here as we learn more.

~Jason

I found family in Cuba and spoke with them. They said indeed that the name del arroz is derived from de la Roz and that our family is from Cangas de Onís.

Robert and a few others are talking about going back to Asturias sometime next year. I want to try and learn as much as I can before I go back.

Thank you again for all your help.
-Jason