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Like many other Hispanic surnames, Martínez is a patronymic surname, that is, it refers to the name of the father of the person who bears it. The suffix -ez means “son of”. Therefore, the full meaning of the surname Martínez is “son of Martín”. Originally, all people who carried a surname ending in -ez , such as Martínez, were literally children of someone named Martín; Over time, this custom changed and many Spanish families began to take patronymics as family and inheritable names.
The name Martin, in turn, comes from the Latin Martinus , which derives from Mars, the Roman god of war. Martín was a very popular name in Europe due to the famous Christian saint Martín de Tours, also called San Martín de Loba.
Origin of the name Martinez
Although the exact origin of the Martínez surname is unknown, the oldest data suggests that it comes from Galicia and Asturias.
One of the oldest families that carried the surname Martínez was that of Jacobo Martínez, from the town of San Salvador de Poyo, in Pontevedra. His wife was Juana Martínez, who was descended, in turn, from Fernando Martínez y Barba de Figueroa, a knight of the Order of Carlos III.
Another of the oldest families was that of Matías Martínez Porrúa, in La Coruña. One of his descendants was Francisco Martínez Pastor, who was Morillo’s prosecutor at the beginning of the 19th century.
Other records show that in the following centuries there was also a large number of knights who were part of different military orders and the Spanish nobility.
The surname Martínez arose in America through the Spanish conquests. One of the main conquerors was Domingo Martínez de Irala, who participated in the expedition to the Río de la Plata led by Pedro de Mendoza. Later, he was part of the foundation of the city of Buenos Aires.
Fun facts
In addition to its meaning and origin, there are also other curious facts about the surname Martínez. For example:
- Martínez is the most common surname in the Spanish regions of La Rioja, Navarra, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, Cantabria and Cuenca.
- It is also very popular in Andorra, Portugal, Switzerland, France and Italy.
- Martínez is the second most popular last name in the Spanish language, after García.
- In the United States, it is the second most popular Spanish surname.
- It ranks 74th in the list of the most common surnames in the world.
- It is the most popular last name in Honduras; in Nicaragua and El Salvador it is the 2nd most common last name; in the Dominican Republic and Paraguay it is the 3rd; in Mexico it is the 4th most popular last name.
- In Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba and Panama it is the 6th most common surname. In Argentina and Belize it is the 8th most popular surname.
- The surname Martínez can appear with or without an accent. There are also other variants of this surname: Martines, Martin, Martín, Martino. In other languages it can also be found as: Martins, Martinson, Martin, Martinelli, Martinolli, Martini, DiMartini, DiMartino, and Martinisi. There are even compound forms of this surname, such as Martínez del Río and Martínez de Hoz.
Famous people with the last name Martinez
Due to its great popularity, there are many people who carry this surname. Some of the celebrities with the last name Martínez are:
- Julen Luis Arizmendi Martínez: Spanish chess player.
- Mariano Martínez: Argentine actor and model.
- Raúl Martínez: Cuban designer and graphic artist.
- Natalia Martínez Streignard: Venezuelan actress.
- Olivier Martinez: French actor.
- Pedro Martínez: Dominican-American baseball player.
- Emiliano Martínez: Argentine soccer player.
- Tomás Eloy Martínez: Argentine novelist and journalist.
- Juan Martínez de Rozas Corre: Chilean politician of the 18th century.
- Carlos Martínez Moreno: Uruguayan writer.
- Conchita Martínez Granados: Spanish tennis player.
Resources and genealogy
There are several free online resources for people who want more information about their Martinez ancestors and other interesting facts such as dates of birth, documents, or family trees. Some of them are:
- RootsWeb : These are mailing lists for people who want to find data on any last name, including Martinez.
- DistantCousin.com – Contains different free databases and genealogy links.
- FamilySearch – Has over 10 million historical records and family trees for the Martinez surname.
- GeneaNet – It is one of the largest databases on the net, which includes a DNA database.
- Ancestry.com – Offers millions of digitized records of census data, passenger lists, property deeds, wills, and more. It should be noted that this site requires prior subscription.
Bibliography
- Vilches Y de Marín, E. Golden book of Spanish surnames: Its etymology, genealogy and heraldry: First series . (2018). Spain. Wentworth Press.
- Faure, R.; Ribes, MA (2001). Dictionary of Spanish surnames . Spain. Espasa Books.
