Ayala (surname)

Ayala (Basque: Aiara) is a toponymic surname, originally de Ayala (of Ayala), deriving from the town of Ayala/Aiara in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.

It is linguistically unrelated to the Hebrew female given name Ayala, which is of Biblical origin.

Arts and entertainment

 * Alexis Ayala (born 1965), American-born Mexican actor
 * Cristina Ayala (1856–1936), pen name of Cuban poet Maria Cristina Fragas
 * Francisco Ayala (novelist) (1906–2009), novelist
 * Isidro Más de Ayala (1899-1960), Uruguayan psychiatrist and author
 * Joey Ayala (born 1956), Filipino musician
 * Josefa de Ayala (c. 1630 – 1684), Spanish-born Portuguese painter
 * Pedro Ayala (1911–1990), American accordionist
 * Ramon Ayala (accordion player) (born 1928), Mexican accordion player
 * Ramón Ayala (Argentine musician) (1927–2023), Argentine singer and poet
 * Ramón Ayala Rodríguez (born 1976), Puerto Rican musician known as Daddy Yankee
 * Thaila Ayala (born 1986), Brazilian actress and model
 * Vanessa Ayala, Colombian-American artist
 * Violeta Ayala (born 1978), filmmaker and writer
 * Ricardo Ayala (born 2001), American-born Salvadoran Sports Broadcaster

Politics

 * Eligio Ayala (1879–1930), President of Paraguay 1923–1924
 * Eusebio Ayala (1875–1942), President of Paraguay 1921–1923
 * Inés Ayala (born 1957), Spanish politician
 * Paulina Ayala (born 1962), Canadian politician
 * Ruben Ayala (1922–2012), American politician; California state senator

Sports

 * Bobby Ayala (born 1969), Major League pitcher
 * Celso Ayala (born 1970), Paraguayan soccer player
 * Daniel Sánchez Ayala (born 1990), Spanish soccer player
 * Diego Ayala (footballer) (born 1990), Paraguayan footballer
 * Diego Ayala (tennis) (born 1979), American tennis player
 * Eric Ayala (born 1999), Puerto Rican basketball player
 * Hercules Ayala (1950–2020), Puerto Rican wrestler
 * Josué Ayala (born 1988), Argentine footballer
 * Lucas Ayala (born 1978), Argentine footballer
 * Luis Ayala (baseball) (born 1978), American-Mexican baseball pitcher
 * Luis Ayala (tennis) (born 1932), Chilean professional tennis player
 * Paulie Ayala (born 1970), Mexican-American former boxer
 * Ramón Ayala (judoka), (born 1979) Puerto Rican judoka
 * Roberto Ayala (born 1973), Argentine international footballer
 * Rubén Ayala (born 1950), Argentine retired footballer
 * Tony Ayala Jr. (1963–2015), former middleweight boxer

Other

 * Aramis Ayala (born 1975), American attorney
 * Carlos Ayala Vargas (born 1980), leader of the Spanish Pirate Party
 * Francisco J. Ayala (1934–2023), Spanish-American biologist and philosopher