Alegría is a Spanish surname native of the Basque Country,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. While some authors place the origin of this lineage in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

and

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória ( ...

, most writers take as true that its origin comes from the natives of Alegría de Oria, district of Tolosa, in the province of Guipuzkoa. Branches from the very old houses of the Basque Country and Navarre went to other places in Spain, as some of their knights went to

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

to serve the Catholic Monarchs in the

conquest of Granada The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat of G ...

. Others went to

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

and settled in the town of

Totana Totana is a municipality in the Region of Murcia in Spain. It has a population of 32008. The local economy is largely dependent on agriculture and related industries. It has a railway station providing a service on the Cercanías Murcia/Alicante c ...

. The surname then spread to

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

mostly coming from Navarra. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Alegría (born 1992), Spanish footballer * Ciro Alegría (1909–1967), Peruvian journalist, novelist and politician *

Claribel Alegría Clara Isabel Alegría Vides (May 12, 1924 – January 25, 2018), also known by her pseudonym Claribel Alegría, was a Nicaraguan-Salvadoran poet, essayist, novelist, and journalist who was a major voice in the literature of contemporary Central ...

(1924–2018), Nicaraguan writer *

Fernando Alegría Fernando Alegría (Santiago de Chile, 26 September 1918 – Walnut Creek, California, October 29, 2005) was a Chilean poet, writer, literary critic and scholar. Biography He grew up in the Independencia ''barrio'' of the city. Poets from thi ...

(1918–2005), Chilean author, diplomat, and academic * Jannet Alegría (born 1987), Mexican taekwondo practitioner * Linda Lizeth Caicedo Alegría (born 2005), Colombian footballer *

Luis Alegría Luis Anthony Alegría Quijón (born 21 November 1980) was a Chilean footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, America ...

(born 1980), Chilean footballer * María Alegria Continente (born 1977), Spanish politician * Mario Alegría, Peruvian politician *

Michael López-Alegría Michael López-Alegría (born Miguel Eladio López Alegría on May 30, 1958) is an astronaut, test pilot and commercial astronaut with dual nationality, American and Spanish; a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one International Space ...

, Spanish-American astronaut * Miguel José de Azanza Alegría (1745-1826), Duke of Santa Fe and Viceroy of New Spain * Pedro Alegría, Dominican Republic politician * Raymundo Polanco-Alegría (born 1920s), Dominican Air Force military and key figure in the Rebellion of the Pilots; businessman * Rosa Luz Alegría (born 1949), Mexican physicist *

Sigrid Alegría Sigrid Alegría Conrads (born 18 June 1974) is a Chilean film and television actress. Alegría began her acting debut in the Televisión Nacional de Chile, TVN soap opera ''Borrón y cuenta nueva (TV series), Borrón y cuenta nueva'' in 1998, pl ...

(born 1974), Chilean actress

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alegria Spanish-language surnames