By cherna |

Hi all,

Does anyone have any information regarding the surname Medrano in San Francísco Cerro Gordo, or Atontonilco?

I've just made a connection with a 3rd cousin through 23andMe. My great grandfather was Silviano Medrano born in 1904 in Jalisco, married to Maria Vazquez. I found out his father was Sixto Medrano, born in 1870 in Jalisco, married to Albina Medina.

My 3rd cousin's GGrandfather was Albino Medrano. They also had another brother named Mucio Medrano. My 3rd cousin says her grandfather was Mayan Indian and Chichmacan. This leads me to ask where they would have gotten the surname "Medrano" if this were the case.

The surname Medrano has Spanish origins. It even seems to be sort of an uncommon surname. Does anyone know the origins of this surname in this area?

Thanks!

To add to this, my GGGGrandfather was Jose Salome Medrano (father of Sixto Medrano).

Jose Salome Medrano
Gender: Male
Baptism Date: 13 nov. 1847
Baptism Place: Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico
Father: Jose Maria Medrano
Mother: Maria Santos Relles
Maternal Grandfather: Agustin Reyes
Maternal Grandmother:
Ygnacia Arebabalo

Hi cherna,

My husbands last name is Medrano as well and I started working on his family tree and thought he would have originated from Spanish lineage. I Was able to trace GGG grandfather to 1766 in San Luis Potosí but he is identified as a Lobo ( Indian with African). I am not able to find anymore records. Do you think they would get their last names from the people they worked for or if they were slaves from their owners? My father in-law did his dna test and shows he has some Spanish but I’m thinking that is from his grandmothers side, her last name was Melchor from Nuevo León.

Esther

Hi Esther,

Funny, I was just thinking about this over the weekend. I dug a little more into this side of my family.

My GGreat-Grandfather was Sixto Medrano born ~1869.
My GGGreat-Grandfather was Jose Salome Medrano born ~1847, married to Isabel Cuevas.
My GGGGreat-Grandfather was Jose Maria Medrano born ~1820, married to Micaela Reyes (Relles)
My GGGGGreat-Grandfather was Felipe Medrano, married to Agustina Romero.

The marriage record for Felipe & Agustina identifies them both simply as "Indio/a". I cannot find a baptism record for Felipe. However, their marriage record list their parents. J Manuel Medrano y Felipa Neri. Antonio Romero y Encarnacion Zalasar. The record states Felipe being from "Puesto de la Transquila". It seems since the 1800's they stayed in Los Altos.

I seem to have hit a wall here, since I cannot find a baptism record for Felipe Medrano, nor much on his father, Jose Manuel Medrano.

I have read in a few threads here that it was customary for Indios to take the surname of patrones of their hacienda, rancho, pueblo, etc. when converting to Catholicism.

Genealogy Research