Cárdenas Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Cárdenas last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Cárdenas last name
Meaning of the Cárdenas last name: "from Cárdenas". Cárdenas is a Spanish surname for someone from Cárdenas, a village in La Rioja, from cárdeno, "purple", perhaps for the colour of the soil or thistles. The last name spread through Andalusia to the Americas. Lázaro Cárdenas, president of Mexico, nationalised its oil in 1938.
Arms associated with the Cárdenas name
Coats of arms associated with the Cárdenas surname follow Spanish heraldry, each set out in a short blazon.
Get your full Cárdenas family history
This is only a glimpse of the Cárdenas story. The full Cárdenas history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Cárdenas coat of arms. Get the full Cárdenas report.
Cárdenas name FAQ
What does the Cárdenas name mean?
"from Cárdenas". Common variants include Cardenas, Cárdena.
Where does the Cárdenas surname come from?
It originates in Spain, and is also found in Mexico, Colombia and Peru.
Is there a Cárdenas coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Cárdenas coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Roberto Faure, María Asunción Ribes & Antonio García, Diccionario de apellidos españoles (Espasa, 2001); Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).