Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 24, 2026

Moscoso

Moscoso is a Galician surname most prominently held in the Andean nations of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia. It is also common in Guatemala and Chile. Within Spain, the surname is most common in Andalusia, having arrived there with Galicians during the reconquest. Etymologically, this surname comes from Latin muscōsum, accusative singular of muscōsus, meaning mossy...Alternatively, from mosca ("fly") + -oso. However, there are few, if any examples, in which Latin word-final "a" becomes "o", making this latter etymology unlikely."

Last revised
Jul 24, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
312 w
Citations
3
Source

Moscoso is a Galician surname most prominently held in the Andean nations of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia. It is also common in Guatemala and Chile. Within Spain, the surname is most common in Andalusia, having arrived there with Galicians during the reconquest. Etymologically, this surname comes from Latin muscōsum,1 accusative singular of muscōsus, meaning mossy...Alternatively, from mosca ("fly") + -oso ("place with").2 However, there are few, if any examples, in which Latin word-final "a" becomes "o", making this latter etymology unlikely."3

People with the name

Businesses

Other uses

  • Moscoso, in Spain is informal name of a "day of private affairs" – a day of unpaid leave for certain groups of workers and officials. Named after the minister Javier Moscoso, who signed this right for civil servants.
References

References

  1. Muscōsum, accusative singular of Muscōsus. Gaffiot, Felix (1934). Dictionnaire illustré latin-français. Hachette. p. 1005.
  2. Hanks, Patrick (2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. 3-Volume Set. Volume 2. Oxford University Press. p. 624. ISBN 978-0-19-508137-4.
  3. Wiktionary (24 April 2024). Moscoso.