Last name: Martinez

This famous name is a development of the Roman 'Martinus', a personal name derived from 'Mars", the God of war. The spelling here is Spanish, the name in England being normally Martin but also found as the Huguenot Martineau from Poitou, France. Martinez the name is recorded heraldically in Castille, Milan and Sicily. The Coat of Arms for Castille being, 'A green tree an a gold field, within a border of red with knight spurs in Gold'. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Martinez di Castille which was dated 1580, Madrid, Spain during the reign of King Philip II of Spain, 1528 - 1598 Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Visitor Comments

Diego Martinez
In 1492 when Columbus arrived in America, several members of his crew had tne Martinez surname. It is of Galician ancestry, not Castilian.

Gee
Not true There is a town Martinez in Castilla, look it up

Cullen
When the Kingdom of Leon and the Kingdom of Castile unified, the Kingdom of Galicia soon followed in 1230 to form the Crown of Castile. Naturally, surnames would have been spread through those Kingdoms.

Mai Mai
anyone know of any maritnez members goin to the philippines, my grandmothers maiden name was martinez

marissa
i love the last name that i have to represent :)

samantha martinez
thats my last name :) its awesome to find out about this stuff isnt it ? i love finding out new things about my family cus i have a HUGE family like i found out my great geart great greart greadt grandpa was a tino indian chief :I

Lynn
I thought Martinez originated in Santander, Spain?

Cullen
Santander is in what formerly was the Kingdom of Castile on the Iberian Peninsula.

salvationtweet
Martinez is a Sephardi Jewish name from Spain also Martin .

Samantha G. Martinez
my name is samantha g. martinez and i think these websites are great cus i have a huge family and my moms mom great granda was a tino indian cheif :DD i would have been next in line for the thrown if it was still alive so im kinda royal to the tino indians i think its really cool :I