Origin of Cuevas

Lope García de Salazar says that this last name came from Urdiales, in Cantabria, and that Lope García de las Cuevas was from this house, who married in Somorrostro (Vizcaya).

In Cantabria there was also a Cuevas house in the town of Pie de Concha (Torrelavega) and from that house arose the one that settled in Sahagún (León) and the one established in Carrión de los Condes (Palencia). Another house was located in Valdeiguña (Cantabria), from where it went to Valdivielso.

In Castilla he had houses in the cities of Burgos and Zamora, and in Villalón de Campos (Valladolid).

Juan de las Cuevas, from Teruel, was a resident of Jérica (Castellón) in 1343-1369.

In Aragon he had solar houses in Las Cuevas de Cañart, their owners Johan de las Cuebas and Loys de las Cuebas; in Montoro de Mezquita, its owners Matheu Cuebas and Miguel Cuebas; in Molinos, its owner Blasco las Cuevas; in Alcañiz, its owner Domingo de Cuebas; in Puertomingalvo, its owners Domingo Cuevas, Gil Cuevas and Gil Cuevas; in Linares de Mora, its owners Jayme Cuevas and Jayme Cuevas; in Sarrión, its owner Joan López de Cuevas; in La Puebla de Valverde, its owner Johan Pérez de Cuebas; in Torre la Cárcel, its owners Bertholomeu Cuevas and Martín Cuevas; in Argente, its owner Anthón de las Cuevas; in Lidón, its owner Pascual de las Cuevas; in Alcalá de la Selva, its owner Domingo Cuevas; in Teruel, its owner Miguel de las Cuevas; in Torre los Negros, its owner Johan de las Cuevas; in Báguena (all in Teruel), its owner Diego de Cuevas; in Villanueva de Sigena (Huesca), its owner in Pedro de Cuebas; in Fuentes de Ebro, its owners Francisco de Cuebas and Martín de Cuebas; in Borja (both in Zaragoza), their owner Pascual de las Cuevas, documented in the Aragonese Fogueración of 1495. Lois Pérez de Cuevas was Judge of Teruel in 1524.

In Navarre, its owner Pascoala, wife of Pero Cuevas and his children, had a solar house in the town of Mendavia, in Merindad de Estella, documented in the Navarre firefight of 1329.

This surname spread widely throughout Spain and Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, the United States, the Philippines, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, and Venezuela.

They proved their nobility before the Hall of the Hijosdalgo of the Royal Chancellery of Valladolid: Alonso de las Cuevas, a resident of Fresno el Viejo (Valladolid), in 1526; Andrés, Gonzalo, Juan and Toribio de las Cuevas, residents of Collazos de Boedo (Palencia), in 1548; Carlos de las Cuevas, a resident of Pesquera (Cantabria), in 1756; Catalina de Cuevas, a neighbor of Entrena (La Rioja), in 1612; Diego de las Cuevas, a resident of Villavicencio de los Caballeros (Valladolid), in 1571; Fernando de las Cuevas, a resident of Reliegos (León), in 1792; Félix Cuevas, a resident of Valladolid, in 1828; Francisco de las Cuevas, a resident of Coca, in 1567; Francisco and García de las Cuevas, residents of Cea, in 1541; Francisco Nicolás de las Cuevas, resident of Aguilar de Campóo (Palencia), in 1777; García, Juan, Pedro and Rodrigo de las Cuevas, residents of Villalón, in 1525; García and Juan de las Cuevas, residents of Sahagún (León), in 1533 and 1537; Hilario Ramón de las Cuevas, a resident of Santillana, in 1816; José de Cuevas, a resident of Oviedo, in 1736; José de las Cuevas, a resident of Cartes (Cantabria), in 1801; Juan de las Cuevas, a resident of Getafe (Madrid), in 1545; Juan de las Cuevas, a resident of Corpa (Madrid), in 1570; Juan de las Cuevas, a resident of Cea, in 1572; Juan de las Cuevas, a resident of Morata, in 1615; Juan de las Cuevas, a resident of Villapresente (Cantabria), in 1816; Juan Manuel de las Cuevas, a resident of Santiurde de Reinosa (Cantabria), in 1732; Juan Manuel de las Cuevas, a resident of San Vicente de León y de los Llares (Cantabria), in 1791; Lucas de las Cuevas, a resident of Polanco (Cantabria), in 1766; Miguel de las Cuevas, a resident of Bedicó (Cantabria), in 1721; Miguel de las Cuevas, a resident of Comillas (Cantabria), in 1830; Pedro de las Cuevas, a resident of Briones (La Rioja), in 1527; Pedro de las Cuevas, a resident of Carabaña (Madrid), in 1530; Pedro de las Cuevas, a resident of Montamarta (Zamora), in 1549; Pedro de las Cuevas, a neighbor of Loza, in 1545; Pedro and Rodrigo de las Cuevas, residents of Tordesillas (Valladolid), in 1558; Pedro de las Cuevas, a resident of Sahagún, in 1569; Sancho de las Cuevas, a neighbor of Sahagún, in 1533; Vicente de las Cuevas, a resident of Santa María de los Oteros (León), in 1776; Vidal de las Cuevas, a resident of Cuevas de Amaya (Burgos), in 1787; Martín de Cuevas Barbagut, resident of Castillo de Garcimuñoz (Cuenca), in 1619; Juan de las Cuevas Bustamante, a resident of Pesquera, in 1768; Manuel de las Cuevas Bustamante, a resident of Santillana, in 1798; Matías de las Cuevas Bustamante, a resident of Villasuso, in the Cieza Valley (Cantabria), in 1795; Manuel Cuevas Bustamante y Terán, a resident of Villasuso, in 1762; Diego Cuevas Calderón, resident of Pozueloof Belmonte, in 1604; García de las Cuevas Calderón, a resident of Medina de Ríoseco (Valladolid), in 1598; Juan de las Cuevas Ceballos, a resident of El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) and originally from Santiurde de Reinosa, in 1733; Pedro de Cuevas Gamarra, a resident of Aranda de Duero (Burgos), in 1557; Francisco Vicente and José de las Cuevas González, residents of Cervera de Pisuerga (Palencia), in 1793; Antonio de las Cuevas Quevedo, resident of Las Fraguas (Cantabria), in 1759; Francisco de las Cuevas Quevedo, a resident of Ledesma (Salamanca), in 1806; Gabriel de las Cuevas Quevedo, a resident of Santillana, in 1759; Manuel de las Cuevas Quevedo, a resident of Pesquera, in 1775; Pedro Telmo Cuevas Valbuena, a resident of Val de San Miguel de Escalada (León), in 1816, and Juan de las Cuevas Terán, a resident of Santa Cruz (Cantabria), in 1760.

The following proved their nobility before the Royal Chancery of Granada: Alonso Santos and Francisco Lorenzo Cuevas, residents of Bornos (Cádiz), in 1762; Alonso de las Cuevas, a resident of Estepa (Seville), in 1558; Alonso de las Cuevas, a resident of Osuna (Seville), in 1570; Juan de las Cuevas, a resident of Estepa, in 1553; Juan de Cuevas, a resident of Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz), in 1523; Juan de Cuevas, a resident of Trigueros (Huelva), in 1568; Juan de las Cuevas, a resident of Trujillo (Cáceres), in 1569; Juan Ignacio and Pedro de las Cuevas, residents of Cañete la Real (Málaga), in 1732; Manuel Eugenio de las Cuevas, a resident of Gines (Seville), in 1770; Cristóbal Cuevas Alvarez, a resident of Alcázar de la Orden, in 1524; Juan de Cuevas Bustamante, a resident of Ubeda (Jaén), in 1733; Francisco María Cuevas y Milla and consorts, residents of Cañete la Real, in 1791, and Diego de Cuevas Montoya, resident of Las Pedroñeras (Cuenca), in 1595.

A branch of this surname passed to the Canary Islands through the marriage celebrated between the conquistador don Juan Benítez and doña María de las Cuevas, widow of the captain don Luís de Vibalbo Spínola. Another branch was established in Trujillo, province of Cáceres, where don Juan Cuevas won in the Royal Chancery of Granada, in 1569-70, Royal Provisions of Hidalguía. Don Antonio Bustamante Ridel, Cuevas y Zuñiga, a native of Trujillo, in 1776 proves his last name for admission to the Royal Company of Marine Guards in the city of Cáceres.

On December 19, 1872, Don Manuel Cuevas Chacón was authorized to use the pontifical title of Conde de las Cuevas in Spain.