Martínez
A Spanish patronymic surname meaning “son of Martín,” ultimately from the Latin name Martinus.
The #10 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 291 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Martínez is the Spanish patronymic formed from the given name Martín, with the old surname ending -ez meaning “son of” or “descendant of.” Martín itself goes back to Latin Martinus, a name associated with Mars, the Roman god of war. In origin, then, the surname literally means “child of Martín” or “son of Martin.”
History
This is one of the classic Spanish patronymic surnames, alongside names like Díaz, López, and Pérez. Historical sources also note its use in medieval Spain, where such names identified a person by parentage before surnames became fixed. It is now especially common throughout Spain and the Spanish-speaking Americas, and is among the most widespread Hispanic surnames in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
It ranked 10th in the 2010 U.S. Census, with about 1.06 million bearers.
From the historical record
“the Fr. dim. suff. -et. MARTINEZ (Span.) genit. of Mart/n or Mar- ti'no : see Martin in Diet. MAX (Ger.) i an abbrev. of the Latin Maxi- mus = Greatest [superl. of Lat. magnus, great] 2 an abbrev. of Maximilian, q.v. MAXIMILIAN (Ger.) an arbitrary compd. of the Latin Maximus and iEmilianus [see under Max' : the…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)