Alcalá (with an

acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin alphabet, Latin, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic, and Greek alphabet, Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accen ...

) or Alcala (lacking the acute accent) is a Spanish surname. Alcalá (Spanish) and Alcalà (Catalan) are all ultimately derived (typically through placenames) from the Arabic word al-qalʿah (القلعة), meaning "the citadel" or "fortification". The variant Arcala is found in

Ilocano language Iloco (also Iloko, Ilocáno or Ilokáno; ; Iloco: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language primarily spoken in the Philippines by the Ilocano people. It is one of the eight major languages of the Philippines with about 11 million ...

areas of the Philippine Islands, and some other places. Notable people with the surname include: :''Listed alphabetically in each section by given name''

Music

Macedonio Alcalá Macedonio Alcalá Prieto (September 12, 1831 in Oaxaca, Oaxaca – August 24, 1869 in Oaxaca, Oaxaca) was a Mexican violinist, pianist and songwriter remembered today especially for his waltz, "" (God Never Dies). Alcalá was born in the Cit ...

(1831–1869), Mexican violinist, pianist and songwriter * Nilo Alcala (born 1978), Philippine composer and chorister

Politics

* Blanca Alcalá (born 1961), Mexican politician *

Dora Alcala Dora G. Alcala serves on the Texas State University System Board of Regents. She is a former mayor of Del Rio, Texas Del Rio (in Spanish language, Spanish, ''Del Río'', "from the river") is a city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, T ...

, American politician *

Niceto Alcalá-Zamora Niceto Alcalá-Zamora y Torres (6 July 1877 – 18 February 1949) was a Spanish lawyer and politician who served, briefly, as the first prime minister of the Second Spanish Republic, and then—from 1931 to 1936—as its president. Early life ...

, Spanish lawyer and politician who served a president of Spain (1931–1936)

Science

Angel Alcala Angel Chua Alcala (March 1, 1929 – February 1, 2023) was a Filipino biologist who was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2014. Alcala is known for his fieldwork to build Animal sanctuary, sanctuaries and to promote biodiversit ...

(1929–2023), Filipino biologist *

Luis Alcalá Luis Alcalá Martínez is a Spanish paleontologist. Biography Dr. Luis Alcalá is a Spanish Paleontologist. He is the director of Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis, in Teruel, Spain. He is one of the discoverers of ''Turia ...

, Spanish paleontologist

Sports

Baseball

Jorge Alcalá Jorge Luis Alcalá (born July 28, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins. He made his MLB debut in 2019. Career Houston As ...

(born 1995), Dominican baseball player *

Santo Alcalá Santo Anibal Alcalá (born December 23, 1952) is a Dominican former Major League Baseball starting pitcher. He batted and threw right-handed during his baseball career. Alcala was signed by the Cincinnati Reds organization as an amateur free agen ...

(born 1952), Dominican baseball player

Football (soccer)

* Alex Alcalá (born 2005), American-born footballer for Mexico * Gil Alcalá (born 1992), Mexican footballer * Josh Alcala (born 1984), American footballer * Pedro Alcalá (born 1989), Spanish footballer

Running

Gerardo Alcalá Gerardo Agustín Alcalá García (born 28 June 1961) is a Mexicans, Mexican former long-distance runner. In the 5000 metres he won the silver medal at the Athletics at the 1983 Pan American Games, 1983 Pan American Games. He also competed at the ...

(born 1961), Mexican long-distance runner *

Marc Alcalá Marc Alcalá Ibáñez (born 7 November 1994 in Barcelona) is a Spanish middle-distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. He represented his country at the 2016 World Indoor Championships narrowly missing the final. In addition, he won t ...

(born 1994), Spanish middle-distance runner

Other sports

* María José Alcalá (born 1971), Mexican diver *

Raúl Alcalá Raúl Alcalá Gallegos (born 3 March 1964) is a Mexican former professional road racing cyclist, who competed between 1985 and 1999 and again in 2008 and 2010. As an amateur, Alcalá competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, finishin ...

(born 1964), Mexican road racing cyclist * Rubén Alcala (born 1953), Mexican basketball player

Writing and illustrating

Alfredo Alcala Alfredo P. Alcala (August 23, 1925 – April 8, 2000) was a Filipinos, Filipino comics artist, born in Talisay, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. Alcala was an established illustrator whose works appeared in the ''Alcala Komix Magazine''. ...

(1925–2000), Filipino comic book artist * Guido Rodríguez Alcalá (born 1946), Paraguayan poet and literary critic *

Kathleen Alcalá Kathleen Alcalá (born August 29, 1954) is the author of a short-story collection, three novels set in the American Southwest and nineteenth-century Mexico, and a collection of essays. She teaches creative writing at workshops and programs in Wa ...

(born 1954), American author *

Larry Alcala Lauro "Larry" Zarate Alcala ONA (August 18, 1926 – June 24, 2002) was a well-known editorial cartoonist and illustrator in the Philippines."The hiLARRYous Art of Alcala", by Ruben Defeo, Today (August 22, 1995), p. 20"Slices of Larry Alcala ...

(1926–2002), Philippine cartoonist and illustrator *

Luis Espinosa Alcalá José Luis de Gonzaga Espinosa de los Monteros y Alcalá (June 21, 1932, Mérida, Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico – January 1, 2009) better known as Luis Espinosa-Alcalá was a Mexican poet, songwriter, and music promoter. Espinosa-Alcalá ...

(1932–2009), Mexican poet, songwriter, and music promoter

Other

Alfonso de Alcalá Alfonso de Alcalá (Alcalá la Real, 1520s) was a Spanish physician, professor of medicine and also Hebraist. He is to be distinguished from the Hebraist Alfonso de Zamora. He was formerly a physician and rabbi, but converted to Christianity prior ...

( 1520s), Spanish physician *

Félix Enríquez Alcalá Félix Enríquez Alcalá (sometimes credited as Felix Alcala) (born March 7, 1951, in Bakersfield, California) is a Mexican American film and television director. Career Alcalá's first major breakthrough came in 1991 when he was hired by Lynn ...

(born 1951), American television and movie director, cinematographer and producer *

Guillermo Ríos Alcalá Guillermo Ríos Alcalá is a Mexican potter, restoration expert and educator from the state of Colima. He was born in Chapala, Jalisco to Felipe Ríos and María Guadalupe Alcalá, but moved to the city of Colima in 1957. His grandfather, Jes� ...

, Mexican potter * María Luisa Alcalá (1943–2016), Mexican actress and director *

Rodney Alcala Rodney James Alcala (born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala; August 23, 1943 – July 24, 2021), also known as John Berger and John Burger, was an American serial killer and convicted sex offender who was Capital punishment in California, sentenced to death ...

(1943–2021), American rapist and serial killer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcala Spanish-language surnames Toponymic surnames