A Spanish surname, the Valenzuela name comes from the Latin term which refers to a guest or stranger of the house. It can also be mean the little Valencia. The spelling variations for Valenzuela include Valentin, Valensuela, Valenz, de Valensuela, Valente and Valiente. In Spain the early Valenzuela families first settled in the Castile region and then spread to the Andlucia region in southern Spain. In the 18th and 19th century many Valenzuela families moved to Venezuela, Cuba, Paraguay, Chile, The Philippines, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Argentina. Within the United States the early Valenzuela families settled in mostly California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana and Nevada. Famous: Fernando Valenzuela (professional baseball player), Jesus E. Valenzuela (poet from Mexico), Patrick Valenzuela (champion race horse jockey),Ricardo Valenzuela (singer known as Richie Valens), Luisa Valenzuela (writer from Argentina), Ismael “Milo” Valenzuela (champion race horse jockey) and Jesse Valenzuela (singer).