what ethnicity zavala surname
1 Zavala is a Spanish variant of Zabala. ( 2 via). 3  Zabala is a name for someone who lived in any of the various places in Biscay and Araba (Basque country) called Zabala, which is derived from the Basque zabal, meaning large or broad and a, the definite article.( 4 via.).nd he mentioned that my last name is a Basque last name. All I'd known previously is that if you trace our genealogy far back enough on my dad's mom's side, we come from Spain (as is the case with many Latin Americans). But the Basque detail was new to me.