Zavaleta

Zavaleta (or Zabaleta) is a surname of Basque origin. The Basque are a people indigenous to areas of northern Spain and southern France, an historical region known as Basque Country. 
Origin and meaning.
Zavaleta (Zabaleta) includes a lexeme ("zabal", 'small square / courtyard' as a noun, according to linguist specialist Koldo Mitxelena) and a suffix ("eta", suffix expressing 'abundance').
Zavaleta vs. Zabaleta.
The surname Zabaleta is created in the Basque language by combining the root, Zabal, with the suffix, eta, hence Zabal-eta. The surname Zabaleta was changed in the New World to the Spanish or Castellano variant, where the "b" is changed to a "v", hence Zavaleta. The two spellings are interchangeable and represent one single family worldwide. today, people who spell it Zavaleta are generally from the "New World" while Zabaletas are in Spain or more recent from Spain in the Americas.
== Notable people =
Antonio, Zavaleta
Texas anthropologist