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The Return

As some of you  many know, I took a break from my genealogy to finish graduate school. While I wish I could have done both, I'm glad I made that decision. As it was, I had to quit all of my jobs eventually in order to finish school. I'm proud to day however, that I am finally done and graduated with my Master's and my single-subject credential.

While I haven't gone full force back into my genealogical history, I'd like to leave the following information I recently found. I've been doing a lot of work in substitute teaching and I have constantly been asked (by children and adults) if I am Hawaiian because of my last name. I've been told that Lujan is not a mexican name because this one person had never heard of it. That can easily be false (its not like she knows every single Mexican surname that exists) but I have always wondered....where does the Lujan name come from? What does it mean? I found this:

Lujan is a spanish geographical name that derived from Luxan, which itself derived from Aluxan, a very small town in the ayuntamiento de Muro de Rueda (Huesca),it is located in northern Spain near the Pyrennes mountain range on the border with France. Since its located in the province of Aragon,its origin is Aragones.

Some data places the origin of Aluxan at the XII or even back to the XI century, Aluxan still has the castle that started the lineage of the current Lujan family, for pictures of the castle contact:xxxxx

This Spanish last name made a mark in the world in Madrid, where it established itself in the XII century, after that it extended from Madrid to Castilla, Andalucia, and eventually America, where they established the last name in Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina. In Argentina theres a city of 93,000 named Lujan, after captain Pedro de Luján who died in 1536 in a hostile battle with native indians. In Mexico the Lujan name is concentrated in the states of Chihuaha, Coahuila,and Durango, extending all the way up to the US southwest, in states like New Mexico, and Arizona. And there is a small line of Lujan ancestry in the island of Guam in the south pacific.

And there are documented records of Lujans arriving at Ellis Island as inmigrants from Cuba, Mexico, and Spain in the 1800s.
The Lujan name is closely tied to Spanish royalty, it still has a residence in Madrid named Torre Lujan, where at one time the King of France Fransico I was a prisoner after his defeat in the battle of Pavia, a battle won by King Carlos V in 1525. The royal titles the Lujan name posesses are numerous:

1669.- King Carlos II concedes the title of Count Castroponce to Don Fernando de Lujan Robles Caballero.

16??.-King Carlos III concedes the title of Duke of Almodovar del Valle to Don Pedro Fransisco de Lujan y Gongora.

There has been Lujans directors of the academy of history, Marquezes, Counts, Mayors, Ministers of state, embassadors to London and Lisbon, Presidents, and numerous military men. There where also Lujans that sailed with Cristopher Colombus, and it is believed that a Lujan gave Colombus a decent burial after his death.
Currently there are Lujans in the US, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Central America, Venezuela, Spain, Guam, France, and Germany. [source: http://genforum.genealogy.com/lujan/messages/298.html]

I found this information to be very interesting, and I felt a little proud to see my connection to all of these kings and ancestors...until I realized that I'm not a real Lujan, in fact no one in my family is. Lujan is the name of the man who married my great-grandmother AFTER she had already had my grandfather by a man whom she worked for. The Lujan blood does not run in my veins, but the Pardue blood does. So what does that mean? Who are they? where exactly did they come from before settling here in the United States?

Maybe next time I can find some time to explore these questions more. But, the Holy Grail of them all: who is Andrew Avila and where is he? Still no new clues on him...yet.

Comments

  1. hey would you happen to know of any Avilas that use to live in orland ca by chance?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, not that I know of but I suppose it is possible to be related to Avilas in Orland

      Delete
  2. I'm a Lujan . I knew we had knights inn our liniage and Nobles but I'm not sure about Royalty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lujan was a sought after title a "worthy" title if you will, by knights Mostly due to its connection to christian martyrs and it eventually became a family title. Yes there are knights and the Lujan name is closey tied to Royalty because they were trusted lords and there was even a Steward named Lujan.

      Delete

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