Family name origins & meanings
- Castilianized form (alongside Araoz) of Basque Araotz, a habitational name from a town called Araotz in Gipuzkoa province, Basque Country; or possibly also a topographic name from Basque ara(n) ‘valley’ + an unidentified suffix, or alternatively a reduced form of Aranotz, from aran ‘valley’ + otz ‘cold’.