Most Famous Spanish Explorers

Spain has produced 86 notable explorers throughout history, led by Hernán Cortés. Rankings are drawn from a cross-verified academic dataset of 152,953 people.

Top Ranked

  1. Hernán Cortés — Spanish Explorer (1485–1547) , ranked #393
  2. Santiago Calatrava — Spanish Engineer (Born 1951) , ranked #1809
  3. Francisco Pizarro — Spanish Conquistador (1478–1541) , ranked #2687
  4. Vasco Núñez de Balboa — Spanish Explorer (1475–1519) , ranked #5383
  5. Hernando de Soto — Spanish Explorer (1495–1542) , ranked #5534
  6. Juan Ponce de León — Spanish Explorer (1474–1521) , ranked #6424
  7. Pedro de Valdivia — Spanish Explorer (1497–1553) , ranked #10929
  8. Diego de Almagro — Spanish Explorer (1475–1538) , ranked #12963
  9. Miguel López de Legazpi — Spanish Explorer (1502–1572) , ranked #16119
  10. Lope de Aguirre — Spanish Explorer (1518–1561) , ranked #16953
  11. Alonso de Ojeda — Spanish Explorer (1466–1515) , ranked #17506
  12. Pánfilo de Narváez — Spanish Explorer (1478–1528) , ranked #22290
  13. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés — Spanish Explorer (1519–1574) , ranked #22294
  14. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo — Spanish Explorer (1499–1543) , ranked #25011
  15. Juan de Garay — Spanish Explorer (1528–1583) , ranked #25038
  16. Martín Alonso Pinzón — Spanish Explorer (1441–1493) , ranked #25416
  17. Sebastián de Belalcázar — Spanish Explorer (1480–1551) , ranked #27452
  18. Juan de Grijalva — Spanish Explorer (1480–1527) , ranked #30815
  19. Juan de Oñate — Spanish Explorer (1550–1626) , ranked #31230
  20. Juan Bautista de Anza — Spanish Explorer (1736–1788) , ranked #33204