Martinez
A Spanish surname indicating a paternal lineage or place of origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,077 living Americans carry the first name Martinez. It is a predominantly male name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Martinez today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Martinez births was 1990 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Martinez. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 318,249 Americans
Peak year
1990
41 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,625
Tracked since 1941
Gender
Gender distribution for Martinez
Martinez leans heavily male at 97.5% of total registrations, but 29 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Martinez as a male name
- Ranked #13,625 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1990 (41 births)
Martinez as a female name
- Ranked #14,665 in 1992
- 5 female births in 1992
- Peak: 1977 (9 births)
Popularity
Martinez: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Martinez from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 269 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Martinez by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Martinez during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Martinez' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Illinois, Alabama, Georgia recorded the most babies named Martinez, while Texas, Michigan, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Martinez
Martinez is a Spanish surname that originated in the region of Asturias in northwestern Spain. It is believed to be derived from the Latin name "Martinus," which was the name of a 4th-century Roman soldier who later became a Catholic saint. The name "Martinus" is derived from the Latin word "Mars," which was the name of the Roman god of war.
The name Martinez first appeared in historical records in the 8th century, during the reign of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. It was used as a given name for males, although it was more commonly used as a surname.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Martinez is Martinus of Braga, a 6th-century Christian bishop and writer who was born in Pannonia (modern-day Hungary) and later became the Archbishop of Braga in Portugal. He is known for his writings on Christian theology and for his efforts to convert the Suevi people of the Iberian Peninsula to Christianity.
In the 12th century, Martinez appeared as a given name in the "Cantar de Mio Cid," a medieval Spanish epic poem that tells the story of the Castilian hero El Cid. One of the characters in the poem is named Martinez, although it is unclear whether this was a first name or a surname.
Another notable historical figure with the name Martinez was Gonzalo Martínez de Oviedo y Valdés (1478-1557), a Spanish soldier, historian, and author who is best known for his work "Historia General y Natural de las Indias," which is a detailed account of the Spanish conquest of the Americas.
During the Spanish Reconquista, the name Martinez was also used by several prominent military leaders and nobles. One such figure was Martín Martínez de Aragón (1357-1409), a Spanish nobleman and military commander who fought against the Moors in the service of the Crown of Aragon.
In the 16th century, the name Martinez was brought to the Americas by Spanish settlers and conquistadors. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name in the Americas is Juan Martínez de Ampiés (c. 1495-1561), a Spanish soldier and explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico.
Throughout the centuries, the name Martinez has been borne by many other notable figures in various fields, including literature, art, science, and politics. However, due to its widespread use as a surname, it is difficult to trace the history of Martinez as a given name in its own right.
People
Martinez + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Martinez as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Martinez: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Martinez?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,077 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Martinez going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 318,249 US residents.
Is Martinez a common name?
We classify Martinez as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,155 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Martinez most popular?
The single biggest year for Martinez was 1990, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Martinez is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Martinez a male name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Martinez in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.