Nieves, the Spanish plural form of nieve (English: snow), is a surname and female given name derived from the title of the Virgin Mary Nuestra Señora de las Nieves (Our Lady of the Snows), a reference to the 4th-century Catholic miracle of a summertime snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome.
[1] The surname is most prevalent in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and particularly Puerto Rico, where it is most densely concentrated.
Within Spain, it is most common in Andalusia, Madrid, Canary Islands, and Galicia.
[2] According to Roser Saurí Colomer and Patrick Hanks of Brandeis University, the Spanish surname Nieves is of Asturian-Leonese origin.
[2] There is also a Scottish Nieves surname that originated in Nevay, located in Angus, Scotland, and thus can be found in the United Kingdom.