Mata
A surname with several possible roots, most often tied to Spanish and Portuguese words for “thicket” or “bush,” and in some cases linked to an ancestor’s nickname.
The #724 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,416 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In Iberian usage, Mata is commonly connected with Spanish and Portuguese mata, meaning a bush, thicket, or scrubby growth. That makes it a likely habitational or topographic surname for someone who lived near such vegetation or a place called Mata. In some traditions, it may also have been used as a descriptive byname, and in Spanish records it can appear among surnames formed from common natural features. The form is short and widespread enough that more than one local origin may have contributed to its use.
History
The surname is well established in Spain and Portugal and also appears in Italian and Latinized surname lists. Historical writers on Spanish surnames often grouped Mata with topographic names derived from landscape features, especially vegetation. In the Americas it spread widely through Spanish and Portuguese settlement, which helps explain its relatively high modern frequency. Because the name is simple and common, unrelated families could have adopted it independently in different places.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Spanish, mata can also mean a plant or shrub in general, so the surname belongs to a big family of nature-based names.
From the historical record
“Du lat. mansio^ résidence^ habitation. Or «toit amené Reori d'AagiBii bieir 8<>. mille mata^oni pont de- mourer eu Constantinople. Duc., ifoiuto.”
— Noms de famille normands