Ortiz
A very common Spanish surname that began as a patronymic, originally meaning “son of Orto” or “son of Fortún/Ortún” in medieval Iberia.
The #68 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,076 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ortiz is a Spanish patronymic surname: the ending -iz meant “son of,” so the name originally pointed to descent from a male ancestor called Orto, Ortún, or a related medieval form. The exact personal name behind it is not fully settled in the excerpts, and older scholarship sometimes links it with forms such as Orti/Orto or with Basque patronymic traditions. In practice, the surname came to mean “descendant of Ort(o)/Ortún,” rather than anything connected with the modern Spanish word or the English word "ortho-."
History
The name is well attested in medieval Spain, and the excerpts show it appearing in 11th-century records as Manso Ortiz. Like many Iberian patronymics, it eventually became fixed as a hereditary surname rather than changing from one generation to the next. It is now especially widespread in the Spanish-speaking world, including very large numbers of bearers in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older Spanish naming practice, the same patronymic ending that produced Ortiz also helped create many other common surnames ending in -ez, such as González and Rodríguez.
From the historical record
“L. Atilius L. f. Hiherus, L. Cacdlio L. C. Cha- ritonis fil. Galleciano , L. Fulvius L, f. Celtiher , se dijo : Lo/>e Ortiz Vizcaino, Ruderico Didaz Castellanus (el Cid), MicJiael Pctro Aragonés, Pelagius Gallecus , Martinas Asturianus. En el mismo pueblo el punto en que se moraba ó cá que se estaba próximo servia…”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos