Where the Sanchez name comes from

Sanchez is son of Sancho, and Sancho comes from the Latin Sanctius, which shares its root with sanctus, holy. It was a king's name before it was anybody's surname, carried by a long line of rulers of Navarre. The feminine form of the given name is Sancha, and the Portuguese spelling of the surname is Sanches. Outside the Spanish-speaking world Sancho is best known as Sancho Panza, which is a fair distance from the kings of Navarre.