Martinez Surname Meaning and Family History

Martinez is a patronymic surname meaning "son of Martin." Martin comes from the Latin "Martinus," a derivative of "Mars," the Roman god of fertility and war.

• Surname origin: Spanish
• Alternate Surname Spellings: Martines, Martins, Martinson; see also Martin

Fun Facts

Martinez is the second most common surname in the Spanish language, and the second most popular Spanish surname in America, just behind Garcia.

Famous People With the Surname

• Olivier Martinez: French actor
• Pedro Martinez: Pitcher for the New York Mets baseball team
• Ysidro Martinez: Inventor of a below-the-knee prosthesis
• Mayre Martinez: Winner of the first season of Latin American Idol

Where Is the Surname Most Common?

The Martinez surname is the 74th most common surname in the world, according to surname distribution information from Forebears, and is among the top 10 surnames in Honduras (#1); Nicaragua and El Salvador(#2); the Dominican Republic and Paraguay (#3); Mexico (#4); Spain, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba and Panama (#6), and Argentina and Belize (#8). This means that tracing a family's possible origin based on the surname is of little use.

According to WorldNames PublicProfiler, the Martinez surname is fairly prevalent throughout Spain, but is especially common in the Murcia region, followed by La Rioja, Communidad Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias, Navarra, Galicia, and Cantabria.

Genealogy Resources

• Martinez DNA Project: Open to any male with the Martinez surname or its variant from anywhere in the world.
• Martinez Family Genealogy Forum: This free message board is focused on descendants of Martinez ancestors around the world. Search the forum for posts about your Martinez ancestors, or join the forum and post your own queries. 
• FamilySearch: Explore over 11 million results from digitized historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Martinez surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• GeneaNet: Includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Martinez surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries.
• Ancestry.com: Explore over 14 million digitized records and database entries, including census records, passenger lists, military records, land deeds, probates, wills and other records for the Martinez surname on the subscription-based website, Ancestry.com.

References

• Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.
• Dorward, David. Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.
• Fucilla, Joseph. Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.
• Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.
• Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Reaney, P.H. A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.