Find out how popular the last name Martinex is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Martinex.

Martinex, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Martinex surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Martinex in America

Martinex is the 137327th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Martinex surname appeared 122 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Martinex.

We can also compare 2010 data for Martinex to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Martinex

The surname Martinex has its roots in Spain, tracing back to the medieval period around the 11th century. It is believed to have originated from the personal name Martin, which itself derives from the ancient Roman name Martinus. Martinus was likely derived from Mars, the Roman god of war, and may have initially referred to a person with warrior-like qualities.

Martinex is thought to have emerged as a patronymic surname, indicating "son of Martin." In Spain, the suffix "-ez" was commonly added to surnames to denote this patronymic relationship. The earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in Spanish records and documents from the 12th and 13th centuries, with variations such as Martinez and Martines.

One notable historical reference to the surname Martinex can be found in the Libro de los Fueros de Castiella, a 13th-century legal code from the Kingdom of Castile. This document mentions individuals with the surname, suggesting its prominence in the region during that time.

In the 15th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Martinex was Juan Martinex, a Spanish explorer and navigator who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. Martinex played a crucial role in establishing Spanish settlements in the Caribbean and contributed to the early exploration of the New World.

Another prominent individual with the surname was Pedro Martinex de Castilla (1455-1521), a Spanish soldier and conquistador. He participated in the conquest of Mexico under Hernán Cortés and played a significant role in the fall of the Aztec Empire.

In the realm of literature, the Spanish poet and playwright Lope de Vega (1562-1635) included characters with the surname Martinex in some of his works, reflecting the prevalence of the name during the Golden Age of Spanish literature.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Martinex surname spread beyond Spain, carried by Spanish explorers, settlers, and colonists to various regions of the Americas and other parts of the world. Notable figures include Alonso Martinex (1566-1648), a Spanish navigator and explorer who charted parts of the Pacific coast of Mexico and California.

Throughout its history, the Martinex surname has been associated with various place names in Spain, such as Martínez de la Torre, a municipality in the province of Badajoz, and Martínez del Río, a town in the province of Teruel. These place names often reflected the presence of individuals or families with the Martinex surname in those locations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Martinex

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Martinex.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Martinex was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Martinex has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Martinex was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Martinex, please contact us.

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