Martínez (surname)

Martínez

Martínez is the most common surname in Navarre, La Rioja, Cuenca and Murcia
Pronunciation	Spanish: [maɾˈtineθ], in Latin America: [maɾˈtines]
Language(s)	Spanish
Origin
Meaning	"son of Martín", "son of Martino"
Region of origin	Iberian Peninsula
Other names
Variant form(s)	Martin, Martins, Martinson, Martini, Martiner, Martinek, Martens, Martinov, Martines, Martinus, Martine etc.

Martínez (often spelled without the acute accent on the "I") is a common surname in the Spanish language. Martínez is the most common surname in the Spanish regions of Navarre, La Rioja, Cuenca and Murcia. There are also variations such as San Martin and Martín (with an accent on the "i").

It originated as a patronymic surname, meaning "son of Martín" (English: Martin).

Among Mozarabs, the name was Arabized to "Mardanish" (e.g. Ibn Mardanish) (as well as other patronymics such as Hernandez and Gomez). ^{[citation needed]}

It is also used sometimes as a component word of a multi-word surname such as Martínez del Río. Martínez comes from the personal name "Martin", itself derived from the Latin Martinus, whose root is Mars, the name of the Roman god of fertility and war. The name Martin became popular throughout Christian Europe after it was borne by a famous 4th-century saint who was active in Roman Gaul (now France), Martin of Tours.

Martínez is a widely spread surname (among other European surnames) due in large part to the global influence of the Spanish culture on territories and colonies in the Americas, Africa and Asia. Likewise, due to emigration throughout Europe, Martínez is relatively common in countries neighboring or near Spain, such as: Andorra, Portugal, France, Switzerland and Italy.

In the United States, according to the 1990 Census, "Martinez" ranked nineteenth among all surnames reported, accounting for 0.23% of the population.^[1] In France according to a 1990 census, "Martinez" ranked sixteenth among all surnames reported.^[2]

The Portuguese equivalent of Martínez is Martins meaning "son of Martin". The Italian equivalents are: Martinelli, Martinolli, Martini, Martino, DiMartini, DiMartino, and Martinisi.^[3] The Romanian equivalent is Martinescu.

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 38.8% of all known bearers of the surname Martínez were residents of Mexico (frequency 1:37), 9.9% of Spain (1:54), 9.2% of the United States (1:449), 7.9% of Colombia (1:69), 4.5% of Venezuela (1:77), 4.4% of Argentina (1:112), 2.7% of Cuba (1:49), 2.7% of Honduras (1:38), 2.4% of Guatemala (1:77), 2.2% of El Salvador (1:33), 2.0% of the Dominican Republic (1:61), 1.9% of Paraguay (1:43), 1.7% of Nicaragua (1:40), 1.6% of the Philippines (1:706), 1.4% of Chile (1:142) and 1.3% of Peru (1:275).

In Spain, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:54) in the following autonomous communities:

• 1. Region of Murcia (1:18)
• 2. La Rioja (1:26)
• 3. Valencian Community (1:35)
• 4. Castilla-La Mancha (1:39)
• 5. Asturias (1:45)
• 6. Galicia (1:50)
• 7. Cantabria (1:54)

In El Salvador, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:33) in the following departments:^[4]

• 1. Santa Ana (1:26)
• 2. Morazán (1:26)
• 3. La Paz (1:27)
• 4. Ahuachapán (1:29)
• 5. San Salvador (1:32)
• 6. San Vicente (1:33)

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See also: Disambiguation pages

References

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Martínez.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.