Origin of Ruiz

Hispanic surname that derives from a patronymic form linked to the name Rui or Ruy, diminutive of Rodrigo.

Patronymic surname derived from the proper name of Rui or Ruy. The surname Ruiz, as such patronymic, has been carried and has been carried since ancient times by countless families without any relationship between them of origin and kinship. Widespread throughout the Peninsula and America.

The chronicler King of Arms, Don José-Alfonso de Guerra y Villegas, reports that the family of this last name in Spain comes from the royal blood of the Goths, and that in the mountains of Burgos, Mena valley, place de Viergol, is the primitive site of this family, with another secondary site in Navamuel, in the land of Reinosa (Cantabria).

That of that last name was found in the victory of Baeza, Don Simón Ruiz; Don Fernando Ruiz, Don Lope Ruiz; Don Juan Ruiz de Hinojosa; Don Pedro Ruiz Gorgori; Mr. Sancho Ruiz de Narváez; Don Fernán Ruiz de Argote; Don Pedro, Don Miguel, Don Gonzalo, Don Cristóbal and Don Martín Ruiz de Medina; Don Fernán Ruiz Baca; Don Fernán Ruiz de los Cobos; Mr. Gonzalo Ruiz de Cámara; Don Cristobal Ruiz de Rivaerego. Mention should also be made of Mr. Fernán Ruiz, the one from the day in Algiers and Mr. Fernán Ruiz who perished in the battle at Aljubarrota and Mr. Pedro Ruiz who took part in the conquest of Andalusia.

In the town of Belorado, there are branches of this surname, to which Ricoshombres de pendón y caldera belonged, such as Gutier Ruiz, Alvar Ruiz and Sancho Ruiz. Tenth Master of the Order of Calatrava was Martín Ruiz.

The Ruiz family came from the city of Orihuela, and it is in that city one of the most enlightened, and they have owned large estates, and among them the place of Cox. And the first to come to this city as a seat is Don Carlos, who married Doña Luisa Lop, and has succession. This Don Carlos is the son of Juan Ruiz de Vallebreda, of Calatrava's habit, and of Doña María Cascant, his wife, and grandson of Don Francisco Ruiz. Fr. Agustín de Arqués Jover tells us, in the Alicante Nobility, about the knights who resided in the city of Alicante in 1678.

It is undeniable that the proper name of Rui occurred with preference in both Castiles, as we are going to verify. Let's start with Gil Ruiz, whose birth is somewhat obscure, although he is supposed to be from Valladolid. He seems to be, and we say "it seems to be" because we are not in a position to guarantee it, that he went to Aragon, from where he was Governor General. This character during the life of Martín "el Humano" (year 1395), supported the candidacy of the infant D. Federico de Luna for the succession to the throne and opposed Jaime de Urgen's occupying the position of Lieutenant General of Aragon. After the sovereign died, he presided over the Parliament of Alcañiz, leaning in favor of the pretender Fernando de Antequera.

Let us continue with Bartolomé Ruiz, of Castilian origin, living in the town of Moguer, a sailor who accompanied Almagro as pilot of the expedition that left Panama in 1526 to help Pizarro, Diego de Almagro was also Castilian, whose The last name corresponds to the La Mancha town of the same name. Bartolomé Ruiz was the discoverer of the Gallo and Gorgona islands, San Mateo Bay and Cape San Francisco and collected the first news of the Inca empire. He was among the "thirteen of fame" and participated with Pizarro in the conquest of Peru. In the capitulations of Toledo, in the year 1529, he was appointed Chief Pilot of the South Seas.

Then we have Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, a native of Madrid, who was a colonial administrator in New Spain, with the position of Captain General of the island of Cuba. He later obtained the viceroyalty of New Spain.

Although in passing, it is worth mentioning another distinguished Castilian character, the "Cid Campeador", called by some Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar and by others Rui Díaz de Vivar. Here the proper name Rui is given, predecessor of the surname Ruiz.

We also find Martín Ruiz de Gamboa, a Spanish conquistador, also of Castilian origin who went to the Indies in the year 1537. In 1552 he went to Chile in the company of his cousin, Captain Juan Martín de Avendaño. He founded the city of Castro in February 1567, Isla Grande de Chiloé. His mother-in-law, Governor Rodrigo de Quiroga, appointed him as her successor in 1579, a position in which he was confirmed by Viceroy Toledo in 1581.

Another Spaniard, also with the surname Ruiz, was the painter Pedro Ruiz González, born in Madrid in 1640. He was a disciple of Escalante and some of his works can be found in the Prado Museum and one of them is even in the Museo del Prado Ponce, from Puerto Rico.

It cannot fail to mention D. Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, a prominent politician, born in Burgo de Osma (Soria), that is, also of Castilian origin. He was not only a minister several times, but on two occasions he presided over the Governmentof Spain under the short reign of King Amadeo I. He was a very prominent figure in 19th century Spanish politics; later with the accession to the throne of the Bourbons (Alfonso XII), he was expelled from Spain for his republican ideas.

Lucas Ruiz de Robayaz was a well-known Castilian musician from the mid-17th century, born in Burgos who published numerous treatises on the guitar and its influence on Spanish music. Francisco Ruiz de la Iglesia, born in Madrid, painter, disciple of Carreño, as evidenced by the large canvas of the choir of Las Calatravas in Madrid, was appointed painter to the king in the year 1689. The list of Castilians with the surname Ruiz is extremely extensive. Being impossible to list them all, we will mention the Ruiz family of architects, from the 16th century, born in Burgos.

Hernán Ruiz "el Viejo" has his capital work in the cathedral of Córdoba, erected inside the Muslim mosque, begun in 1521. Hernán Ruiz, "el Joven" helped his father in the construction of the Cordoba cathedral, more Later he moved to Seville, the work that made him famous being the remodeling he did of the old minaret of the old Seville mosque, turning it into the Christian bell tower known as the Giralda. And since financiers could not be missing from this Castilian Ruiz family, the Ruiz from Medina del Campo (Valladolid) is recorded in history. His dedication to business was in Castile in the second half of the 16th century, decisive in many aspects, since they were the lenders of the Crown who used them when he needed money to undertake some of his military actions and thus be able to make the payment. To the soldiers. But this Ruiz family of bankers met a disastrous end, unable to survive the bankruptcies of the 17th century, they went bankrupt in 1601.

From all of the above, it seems to be deduced that, although this surname is represented throughout the Peninsula, its origins may possibly be Castilian, although it soon spread to other areas. This clarification is made because Fernando Ruiz de Castro, a Galician nobleman from the Castro family, brother of Inés de Castro and Juana, wife of Pedro I of Castile, appeared in 1373. He was a man who revolted against his brother-in-law, receiving in his domain the king's bastard brother, the pretender D. Enrique de Trastamara, whose sister he married. However, when the open war broke out between the two brothers (Pedro and Enrique), at first, he refused to participate in it, not wanting to face King Pedro I. It went further: he went to the service of this king for which he received the title of Count of Trastamara. He fought in Granada and on the Aragon border, and ended up being taken prisoner by Enrique, in Montiel. The one who would later be king, treated him with benignity, but he ended up betraying Enrique II, going over to the Portuguese and trying to revolt Galicia against the new monarch. Defeated, he took refuge in Portugal from where he went to England, the nation in which he died. Due to his facts, there is no doubt that this character was what we could modernly call an extremely intriguing politician.

Diverse lineages of this denomination repeatedly proved their nobility in the Orders of Santiago, Calatrava, Alcántara, Montesa, Carlos III (1775, 1793, 1796, 1804, 1806, 1809, 1817 and 1829), Saint John of Jerusalem (1538, 1554, 1611, 1655 and 1779), in the Royal Chancelleries of Valladolid and Granada, in the Royal Company of Marine Guards and in the Royal Court of Oviedo (1754, 1794, 1795 and 1824).

Don Domingo Ruiz de Tagle was created Marqués de Sierranevada in 1708: Don Francisco Ruiz Dávalos, Marqués de la Algoria in 1762; Don Felipe Ruiz de Huidoro y Huidoro, Marquis of Huidoro in 1872; Doña María del Carmen Ruiz Soldado, Viscountess of Torre Mayor in 1884, Jacinto María Ruiz Ibarra y Grijalba, Marquis of Grijalba in 1890.