First Pineda/s and history of the name...

Yes, I am addicted to Google! I Google almost about anything. I find it fascinating and entertaining not to mention educating as well. Or should I say I just have this (weird?)fondness of googling names.

One time, I tried to Google my "family history". So on the search field of Google, I entered my last name (Pineda) and hit enter. First Pineda's & history of the name caught my attention, so I clicked on the link.

From there, it took me to http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.pineda/54/mb.ashx and found a lot of post about it. I learned that the meaning of Pineda came from the Spanish word pino (pine tree) or simply a lot of pinos (pine forest or group of trees as it says there).

One person who possessed the same last name as mine said that based on his knowledge about his family tree, they are descendants of Don Antonio Pineda, a scientist in Spain who studied the Philippines in the 18th century (wow, this "Don" might be my grandfather too! LOL!). He is also the great grandfather of Eleanor Rivera, who became the girlfriend of Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero (say what?!? I might be related to Eleanor Rivera? Don't you think its so kewl?! LOL!). Most of the descendants of Don Antonio Pineda went to Pampanga (where my dad was born and raised – Magalang actually) and some went to Cebu in the Philippines. Most of the descendants of Don Antonio Pineda, held a Spanish passport before 1950s. (Do I have a Spanish passport? Nah, not that I know of! LOL!).

And then there’s this Jose Luis Pineda who said that he is the next "Count" of Villa Pineda mentioned that if the King Juan Carlos The first of Spain deon´t mind, their family comes from the Village of Burgos near to Madrid (Spain). They have been in many wars and always they have tried to defend the Spanish honor. The first Count was Sir Pedro Pineda Salinas after that his grand-grandfather was the Third Count. (This kind of freaked me out. I mean like, whatever that is? LOL!)

However, through further reading, what surprised me the most is that it was mentioned that the surname Pineda is of Sephardic origin (Sephardic means Spanish Jew - Sephardic Jews are descendants of the large Jewish community living in Spain and Portugal in the middle ages. Forcibly expelled from those countries in 1492, many settled in The Netherlands. Sephardic Jews never lost their identity and are found living all over the world today) and that they really came from Israel and that they are Jew. It says there that even the Roman Catholic Church acknowledges that the name Pineda is indeed Jewish and that there are still Pineda/s living in Israel.

It was stated that when the Jews were expelled from Israel by the Romans on and after 70 A.D., many moved to the Iberian area. Since Spain was a Roman possession, those Jews who moved there thought it be wise to adopt Latin names. Many times the Latin names they adopted held a special significance such as using trees in names to signify the Tree of Life (like the Christmas tree). Pineda is no different being a "Grove of pines".

It was supported by another Pineda who said that his grandfather told him that his great grand parents were Jewish immigrants that came to his country (he did not mention where his country is but to my guess, I think he is from The Netherlands). Religious and civil records in Spain attest to it (I saw it myself at http://www.sephardim.com/namelist.shtml?mode=form&from=P&to=P&Search=Search) and that Pineda is also listed in several books which list Sephardic names. Some Pineda’s were most likely killed during the inquisition, while many were simply exiled to places like the Canary Islands (Spain), South America, Mexico, and Northern Europe. It was said that Pineda/s were persecuted during the Spanish Inquisition and some were even executed for their refusal to convert to Catholicism. (say what now?!?)

So that's about it! Other information did freak me out, but all in all, I find it really entertaining - like so hillariously entertaining. Sometimes it would raised one of my eyebrows, or it will really make laugh out loud..Oh well, I guess its just fun to know things that you least expected to know. Interesting, huh?!?

Well yeah, whatever. Peace to y’all!