Machado
A Portuguese and Spanish surname usually linked to an axe-maker, from a word for an axe or hatchet.
The #1,552 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,325 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Machado is most often explained from Iberian words related to "macho" and "machado," meaning an axe, hatchet, or chopping tool. In surname use, it likely began as an occupational name for someone who made or used such a tool, or as a name associated with woodcutting. Some older writers also connected the word with other meanings of machado in Spanish, but the tool sense is the one most relevant to the surname.
History
The surname is well established in both Portugal and Spain and later spread widely through Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking migration. It is especially common in Latin America and in Brazilian and Iberian family lines. Because the form is straightforward and long-standing, it appears in many independent branches, not necessarily from one single family.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same spelling can be found both as a common surname and as a regular Spanish/Portuguese word connected with an axe or hatchet.
From the historical record
“cada. Machado. Hacha para cortar madera. Machado. Hato de machos cabríos. Necedad. Machas. Martillo. Marisco. Macho. Animal del sexo masculino. La planta que fe-”
— Diccionario de los apellidos