Sebastián Vizcaíno
The county derives its name from Monterey Bay. The bay was named by Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602 in honor of the "Conde de Monterrey" (or "Count of Monterrey"), then the Viceroy of New Spain. Monterrey is a variation of Monterrei, a municipality in the Galicia region of Spain where the "Conde de Monterrey" and his father (the Fourth Count of Monterrei) were from.