THE SURNAME BOBADILLA: FROM
LA RIOJA TO JALISCO
By John P. Schmal
The
Surname “Bobadilla”
The surname Bobadilla
is a surname that has been prominent in the Mexican state of Jalisco since the
capital city of Guadalajara was first established in 1542. According to Richard
D. Woods and Grace Alvarez-Altman, “Spanish Surnames in the Southwestern United States: A Dictionary,”
the double suffix added to “boba” means a small but at the same time great
foolishness, or suggests an individual who is large physicially but has few
brains.
It has been
suggested that this could be the name given for a misunderstanding between two
families that was caused by an annoyance but had lasting consequences. The
Spanish-English dictionary defines “bobada”
as a silly thing or stupid talk, and the adverb “bobamente” means stupidly or naively.
Origins
in La Rioja
Although
Bobadilla became a fairly common surname in España over time, its origin
appears to be in Rioja. In fact, there is a small municipio called Bobadilla that is presently located by the River Tovia in the
western part of the present province of La Rioja. Rioja is a very small
autonomous community and a province of northern Spain. Its capital is Logroño
and the small province is nestled between five other provinces, including Burgos
(to the west), Navarra (to the east) and Zaragoza (to the southeast). During the
Middle Ages, Logroño (as La Rioja was known then) frequently found itself in
the middle of disputes between the Kings of Navarra and Castilla.
The specific
origin of the surname Bobadilla has been obscured by time, but it appears that
that several individuals from the area of Bobadilla carried some form of the
surname with them to other areas of the province or the country. One of the
earliest families that is known to have come from this area is “Fernández de Bobadilla” family. The progenitor of this branch
was Juan Fernández de Bobadilla, who
was a native and resident of Bobadilla itself, hence the surname.
The
Surname Spreads
Over time, the
surname spread to Castila, Andalusia and the Canary Islands. Several
Bobadilla’s were granted noble status. For example, on May 9, 1520, the King
of Spain made Don Fernando de Cabrera y Bobadilla the Earl of Chinchón. The Diccionario
heráldico y genealógico de apellidos españoles y Americanos actually
dedicates 103 pages to Bobadilla’s many Spanish branches, which are too
numerous to discuss in this work. However,
interested persons can access this information at the following website, which
has reproduced the information from the Diccionario:
http://www.casarealrurikovich.com/antepasados/bobadilla.pdf
Bobadillas
Arrive in the Americas
With the
migration of Spaniards to the Americas in the Sixteenth Century, several
Bobadillas are known to have embarked to the New World. In April 1535, Francisco
de Bobadilla, a resident of Ubeda (a city in Jaén in Spain's south) left for
the Americas. In February 1538,
Alonso de Bobadilla left the Villa of Bobadilla for a life in the New World.
The
Bobadillas of Jalisco
The first known
Bobadilla to arrive in Jalisco was Pedro Bobadilla, from Extremadura, an
autonomous community of western Spain. Pedro Bobadilla has been described as the
“conquistador de Jamaica” who came to Nueva España and Nueva Galicia. He
was married to Maria and was one of the first 63 founders of Guadalajara in
1542. Pedro was also the first to die in the newly-established parish. Pedro’s
son, Francisco Bobadilla is also listed as an early resident of Guadalajara.
Since the
1540’s, the surname Bobadilla has spread from Guadalajara to many parts of the
State of Jalisco, but is most prevalent in the following communities:
Copyright
© 2014 by John P. Schmal. All Rights Reserved.
Sources:
Archivo General
de Indias. Pasajeros a Indias : libros de asientos (Sevilla, 1978).
Casa Real e Imperial
Rurikovich, “Linaje Bobadilla,” Online:
http://www.casarealrurikovich.com/antepasados/bobadilla.pdf
De Atienza,
Julio. Nobiliario Español: Diccionario heraldico de Apellidos Españoles y de
titulos nobiliarios (Madrid, 1959).
García y
Carraffa, Alberto and Arturo. Diccionario heráldico y genealógico de apellidos españoles y
Americanos (1920-1963), 86 volumes.
Martins
Zúquete, Alfonso Eduardo. Armorial lusitano; genealogia e heráldica (Lisboa,
Editorial Enciclopédia, 1961).
Muria, Jose
Maria and Olveda, Jaime. Lecturas históricas de Guadalajara : generalidades históricas sobre la
fundación y los primeros años de Guadalajara (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Guadalajara, 1991).
Origen del apellido
Bobadilla. Online:
http://www.misabueso.com/nombres/apellido_bobadilla.html
Woods, Richard
D. and Alvarez-Altman, Grace. Spanish
Surnames in the Southwestern United States: A Dictionary (G. K. Hall,
Boston, 1978).