Martinez

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A common Spanish surname of Iberian origin ; a city in Contra Costa County in northern California
2. A Spanish family name carried by many people ; a small city in the San Francisco Bay Area of California
3. A surname of Spanish origin borne by many families ; a town in northern California's Contra Costa County

Etymology: Martínez is a patronymic surname: it means "son of Martín," with the Spanish "-ez" ending doing the same job that "-son" does in English names like Johnson. Martín itself derives from the Latin personal name Martinus, which was tied to the Roman god Mars, so the name carries an old military association that has little to do with the family it now labels. The surname is one of the most widespread in the Spanish-speaking world, and English speakers encountered it as a borrowing from Spanish, keeping the original spelling and accent. Its form has changed little from the Spanish original, so the word here is best understood as a transplanted family name rather than an English word that has shifted in meaning.