Spanish, Catalan and Galician: of uncertain derivation; it
could be from the pre-Roman personal name Vela (compare Basque
bela, vela ‘raven’). More likely perhaps, it may be a
byname from vela meaning either ‘sail’ or ‘watchman’.Spanish: habitational name from a place name Vela, in Córdoba
province.Portuguese: habitational name from a place
named Vela in Portugal.Czech: from a pet form of either of
two personal names, Velislav or Velimir.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
103,722
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Vela
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.com.
You can find out where the majority of the Vela families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Vela immigration records
You can find out when most of the Vela families immigrated
to the United States.
You can focus your search to immigration records dating from that era.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Vela birth and death records
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your ancestors lived in harsh conditions.
A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in
your family.
The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates,
death dates, addresses and more.