Matamoros
A Spanish surname meaning “kill the Moors,” originally a warlike nickname or place-based name tied to medieval Spain.
The #8,206 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 76,347 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Matamoros is a Spanish surname built from matar, “to kill,” and moros, “Moors” or Muslims in medieval Spanish usage. The literal meaning is “killer of Moors,” a phrase that could function as a nickname, a slogan-like epithet, or a place-name element. In surname use, it is generally understood as deriving from the well-known Spanish toponym Matamoros, which appears in several place names.
History
The surname is associated with the Spanish-speaking world, especially Spain and later Latin America, where place-based surnames often became hereditary. Because the phrase has strong medieval and religious overtones, it may have been adopted from a locality rather than coined directly as a personal nickname. It is also linked to the broader historical figure of Santiago Matamoros in Spanish tradition, which helped keep the phrase familiar in Iberian culture.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same phrase appears in the famous city name Matamoros in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and in other Hispanic place names.