South American names include those from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
MantillaSpanish Spanish: from mantilla ‘mantilla’, ‘scarf worn over the head and shoulders’, presumably an occupational name for a maker of mantillas or a descriptive name for someone who habitually wore such a garment.
ManuelCatalan, Spanish Possibly also a habitational name from Manuel in Valencia province.
ManzanaresSpanish Habitational Name From The City Of Manzanares In Ciudad Real Province
MaquedaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous localities: the Manchego municipality or the neighborhood of the Andalusian municipality of Málaga.
MarchantFrench, English, Spanish Variant of Marchand, from French marchand meaning "merchant, mercantile". Though it is of French origin, it was transferred into the Spanish-speaking world, especially Chile, by French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.
MarchenaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 4 Andalusian localities or 1 Murcian locality.
MarreroSpanish Occupational name for a stonecutter, derived from Spanish marrear "to hit with a sledgehammer", ultimately from Latin marra "hoe, hook, spade".
MártirSpanish from mártir "martyr" probably a nickname for someone devoted to the religious cult of a Christian martyr or perhaps one who had played the part of a Christian martyr in a religious play.
MarulandaSpanish topographic or habitational name referring to a house named with maru 'Moor' + landa '(large) field prairie'.
MasvidalSpanish surname formed by the union of the word, mas, meaning a house from rural zones that is appart from the village and is surrounded by farming land and forests; and another word relating to the owner of the mas.
MatamorosSpanish Given to the Apostle James, who according to tradition helped Christians to fight against the Moors.
MatarranzSpanish Originated in northern Spain, probably from mat- which means to kill and the surname Arranz. It is currently a very rare surname and is found mainly in the province of Segovia.
MauleonSpanish (Archaic) All I know is that there is a place in spain "Basque Country" that their town, apartments, holtes are named Mauleon. The language spoken is Basque a form of "Spanish and French"
MayorEnglish, Spanish, Catalan English variant of Mayer 3 and Catalan variant of Major. Either a nickname for an older man or a distinguishing epithet for the elder of two bearers of the same personal name, from mayor "older", from Latin maior (natus), literally "greater (by birth)"... [more]
MayoralSpanish Occupational name for the foreman of a gang of agricultural workers or the leader of a group of herdsmen mayoral (from Late Latin maioralis originally an adjective derivative of maior 'greater').
MayorgaSpanish habitational name, taken on from the place name Mayorga in Valladolid province of Castile.
MayorquinSpanish variant of Mallorquín a habitational name for someone from Majorca the largest island in the Balearic Islands from an adjectival form of its Spanish name Mallorca.
MazaSpanish Occupational name for someone who carried a mace, either as a symbol of office or as a weapon.
MazariegoSpanish Altered form of Mazariegos in singular for matching with the bearer.
MazzoccoItalian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Brazilian The surname Mazzocco is believed to have its roots in Italy, specifically from regions such as Lombardy and Veneto. It may have been a nickname for someone who was strong or powerful. The name is derived from the Italian word and last name Mazza.
MedellinSpanish Habitational name from a place so named in Badajoz province Latin (Caecilia) Metellina derived from the name of a 1st-century Roman proconsul in Spain Cecilio Metello Pio.
MedranoSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Riojan municipality.
MeirelesPortuguese Habitational name for someone from a place called Meireles in Portugal, meaning unclear.
MejiaSpanish Spanish (Mejía): probably from a religious byname (possibly under Jewish influence), from a vernacular form of Latin, Greek Messias ‘Messiah’, from Hebrew māšīaḥ ‘anointed’.
MeleroSpanish Occupational name for a collector or seller of honey, melero (Late Latin mellarius, an agent derivative of mel, genitive mellis, ‘honey’).
MelgarSpanish Topographical name for someone who lived by a field of lucerne, Spanish melgar (a collective derivative of mielga 'lucerne', Late Latin melica, for classical Latin Medica (herba) 'plant' from Media).
MelgosaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 Castilian municipalities, Melgosa de Burgos or Melgosa de Villadiego. It could also indicate familial origin within the Manchego municipality La Melgosa.
MelilloSpanish, Italian describing someone who worked on an apple orchard,harvesting and selling apples from the italian mela
MesaSpanish Habitational name for someone from any of the various locations in Spain called Mesa meaning "table" or "mesa" in Spanish (referring to a flat area of land).
MesquitaPortuguese Means "mosque" in Portuguese, used as a topographic name for someone who lived near a mosque.
MessiItalian, Spanish (Latin American) Possibly from Italian messi meaning "messengers". A famous bearer of this surname is Lionel Messi (born 1987-), an Argentinian footballer of Italian descent.
MinayaSpanish From Minaya, the name of a town in Albacete province, Spain. According to the scholar Miguel Asín Palacios, the place name comes means "open and visible path" from Arabic. It has also been speculated that the place name has Basque origins, meaning "ore", "ore vein" or "asphodel pastures".
MoclinSpanish A town positioned outside of Granada and Toledo Spain, its current occupants number in the thousands. But, 700’s this town was positioned in a mist of sprawling Moorish control. And, for the next 800 years, it was the epic center of Europe’s culture and medicine... [more]
MonarrezSpanish Hispanic (Mexico; Monárrez): Altered Form Of Basque Munárriz Itself A Castilianized Form Of A Habitational Name From Munarritz (Also Amunarritz In Castilian Munárriz) A Town In Navarre.
MonasterioSpanish Means "monastery" in Spanish, denoting a person who lives or works in a monastery.
MoncadaSpanish A habitational surname, from Catalan Montcada, ultimately from monte "mountain" and an older variant of Catalonia.
MondejarSpanish Habitational name from a place called Mondéjar in Guadalajara province.
MondragónSpanish From the name of a town in Basque County, Spain, which is derived from Latin mons draconis meaning "dragon mountain".
MonsivaisSpanish Hispanic (Mexico; Monsiváis): Perhaps A Topographic Name Derived From Latin Mons Silvaticus ‘Wooded Mountain’ Or A Habitational Name From Monsivalls A Hill In Ribagorza In Huesca Province (Spain) Named From Latin Monte Ipsa Vallis ‘Mount Of The Valley’.
MontalbanSpanish Spanish (Montalbán): habitational name from Montalbán de Córdoba from Latin montem albanum 'white mountain'.
MontaltoItalian, Portuguese Habitational name from any of various places called Montalto or Montaldo especially Montalto Uffugo in Cosenza province in Italy or from a place in Portugal called Montalto from monte "hill" and alto "high" (from Latin altus).
MontalvoPortuguese, Spanish, Italian Montalvo is a habitational Portuguese and Spanish surname that originated in the medieval period. It comes from the Spanish words monte, meaning "mount", and albo, meaning "white". The name was often given to families who lived near or on a white mountain or hill, and can be interpreted as "white mountain".
MonteagudoSpanish Habitational name from any of numerous places called Monteagudo (‘pointed mountain’) from monte ‘mountain’ + agudo ‘sharp pointed’ (from Latin acutus from acus ‘needle’) for example in the provinces of Murcia Teruel A Coruña and Navarre.
MonteblancoFrench, Spanish Originally from France "Mont Blanc" but translated when arrived in Spain.
MontejanoSpanish Habitational name for someone from a place called Montejo
MontemayorSpanish Habitational name from any of several places called Montemayor, from monte meaning "mountain" + mayor meaning "main", "larger", "greater", in particular in the provinces of Cordova, Salamanca, and Valladolid.
MontenegroSpanish, Portuguese Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations in Spain and Portugal named Montenegro, from Spanish and Portuguese monte meaning "mountain, hill" and negro meaning "black".
MontielSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
MontillaSpanish Habitational name from Montilla a place in Córdoba province.
MontoroSpanish, Italian A Spanish habitational name from any of the places called Montoro in particular those in Córdoba or Teruel provinces. Italian habitational name from any of the places called Montoro in particular Montoro Inferiore and Montoro Superiore in Avellino province.
MonzonSpanish Habitational name from Monzón, a place in Uesca province, which is probably named from Latin montione ‘big mountain’.
MosquedaSpanish Mosqueda comes from the Spanish word 'Mosca' meaning house fly.
MosqueraSpanish, Catalan Spanish topographic name for someone who lived in a place that was infested with flies or mosquitos from a derivative of mosca "fly" (from Latin musca)... [more]
MouraPortuguese Derived from the Portuguese word "Mouro", which refers to an individual from the Moor people. This is the feminine form of the word, often used in legends of enchanted moor women, which very common in Portugal... [more]
NajarSpanish Spanish: Most Probably A Habitational Name From Najar Alicante. Alternatively It May Be An Occupational Name For A Carpenter Of Arabic Origin
NájeraSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Riojan municipality.
ÑáñezSpanish Patronymic from an unidentified personal name, perhaps it's a cognate of Ibáñez.
NaranjoSpanish Topographic name for someone who lived by an orange grove, from Spanish naranjo ‘orange tree’ (from naranja ‘orange’, Arabic nāránjya), or a habitational name from a place named Naranjo in A Coruña and Códoba provinces... [more]
NascimentoPortuguese (Brazilian) Means "birth, nativity" in Portuguese, from Late Latin nascimentum, a derivative of Latin nasci "to be born". This was originally a religious byname. It was also an epithet of the Virgin Mary (Maria do Nascimento), and was used as a given name for children born on Christmas.
NatalPortuguese, Spanish From the personal name Natal (from Latin Natalis), bestowed on someone born at Christmas or with reference to the Marian epithet María del Natal.
NatividadSpanish From the personal name Natividad "nativity, Christmas", from Latin nativitas "birth", genitive nativitatis, usually bestowed with reference to the Marian epithet María de la Natividad... [more]
NavarreteSpanish From the town of Navarrete in La Rioja, Spain, meaning "the mountain pass of the Navarrans" or "dun mountain pass". It became particularly popular in the province of Jaen through the Castillian conquest of Baeza.
NegreteSpanish Possibly from negrete denoting a member of a 15th-century faction based in the mountainous area of Cantabria.
NegroItalian, Spanish, Portuguese, Jewish Nickname or ethnic name from negro "black" (Latin niger), denoting someone with dark hair or a dark complexion.
NegroItalian, Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, Jewish Nickname or ethnic name from negro "black" (continuation of Latin niger), denoting someone with dark hair, dark eyes, a dark complexion, someone who wore dark clothes, someone who worked a job in the night, or was otherwise associated with the night.
NegronSpanish, Italian This surname is a most likely variant of the word and name Negro.
NegueruelaSpanish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous La Riojan ghost town.
NevesPortuguese Means "snows" in Portuguese, derived from either the Marian title Maria das Neves "Mary of the Snows", or from any of several locations named for the title.