Araiza

Family name origins & meanings

• Basque : topographic name from ara, haran ‘valley’ + -itz, a common topographic suffix, + the article suffix -a, that is, ‘the place in the valley’. In some cases it may be a variant of Areyza, from areitz ‘oak’ (variant of (h)aritz) + the article suffix -a. Because it is somewhat unusual in terms of Spanish orthography, the latter surname may have been assimilated to the former, which is more common and more regular in form.