Flores: A Surname History

Description

Flores: A Surname History — Volume 44 of The Surname Histories Series. The flores name — the Spanish variant of Flórez, reshaped under the influence of flores, “flowers,” with the root Flórez a patronymic from the Visigothic personal name Froila, itself a derivative of fro, “lord, master.” FLORES stands No. 40 in the 2010 U.S. Census with 433,969 bearers — up from No. 55 in 2000 (312,615), a +38.8% rise (+121,354 bearers), climbing fifteen ranks — sitting directly behind Hill at #39 and completing the series’ twenty-book running echo (Lee #21 → Pérez #22 → Thompson #23 → White #24 → Harris #25 → Sánchez #26 → Clark #27 → Ramírez #28 → Lewis #29 → Robinson #30 → Walker #31 → Young #32 → Allen #33 → King #34 → Wright #35 → Scott #36 → Torres #37 → Nguyen #38 → Hill #39 → Flores #40), twenty consecutive volumes at twenty consecutive ranks. The signature story is Juan José Flores (1800–1864) — the founder of Ecuador, its first president — told in full and framed honestly, with a portrait plate of the general. The heraldry carries the flowers of the name: the documented five-gold-fleurs-de-lis arms of the León, Galicia, and Salamanca house (azure, five fleurs-de-lis in saltire, 2-1-2) and the Santander true canting arms (five red roses in saltire on gold — the “flores” name rendered literally as flowers). Discover the story behind your name!