Santiago Family History

Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish: habitational name from any of numerous places so named from the dedication of their churches to Saint James (Sant Iago). The apostle Saint James the Greater is the patron saint of Spain; there is a medieval legend that after the death of Christ he did not meet a speedy end under Herod Agrippa but visited and evangelized the Iberian peninsula.

His alleged burial site at Compostela has been a place of pilgrimage from all over Europe for over a thousand years. See also Sandiego.