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.
MazariegoSpanish Altered form of Mazariegos in singular for matching with the bearer.
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
MenesesSpanish, Portuguese Meaning uncertain. It was likely a habitational name from either the municipality of Meneses de Campos in Palencia or the municipality of Valle de Mena in Burgos.
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". Aamous 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]
MotaSpanish, Portuguese Topographic name for someone who lived by a fortified stronghold.
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.
NavidadSpanish Derived from the personal name Noel. It means "Christmas" in Spanish.
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.
NovoGalician, Portuguese Nickname from Portuguese and Galician novo ‘new’, ‘young’ (Latin novus). The word was also occasionally used in the Middle Ages as a personal name, particularly for a child born after the death of a sibling, and this may also be a source of the surname.
ObregónSpanish Spanish habitational name from Obregón in Santander province.
OcampoSpanish, Galician From the Galician toponym O Campo meaning "the field", also used as a habitational name from a town of the same name in Lugo, Galicia.
OcónSpanish This indicates familial origin within either the eponymous Riojan municipality or the Ocón de Villafranca neighborhood of the Castilian municipality of Villafranca Montes de Oca.
OlivaItalian, Spanish Of uncertain origin: derived either from a nickname to those who picked, worked with or sold olives, or from the given name Oliva.
OlivaresSpanish Habitational name from any of several places named Olivares, from the plural of Spanish olivar meaning "olive grove". Compare Portuguese and Galician Oliveira.
OliveraSpanish Comes from the Latin etymology related to olive trees, olive grees and olives.
OlivoItalian, Spanish Topographic name from olivo "olive tree" or occupational name for someone who sold olives. Or from the given name Olivo given to someone born on Palm Sunday.
OronaSpanish Spanish: habitational name from a town of this name in Burgos province.
OroscoSpanish, Basque Variant of Orozco. Means "place of the holly trees" from oros meaning "holly tree" and the suffix -ko signifying a place. Also believed to have been derived from Latin orosius meaning "the son of bringer of wisdom".
OrtolanoItalian, Spanish occupational name for a cultivator or seller of fruit and vegetables ortolano "gardener" from a derivative of orto "vegetable garden" (from Latin hortus "garden"). The term was also used in the medieval period to denote both a cleric with a fervant devotion to pastoral work and a rough or uncouth person and in some instances may have been applied as a nickname in either sense... [more]
OsornoSpanish From the name of a place in Palencia, a province of northern Spain.
OstosSpanish Habitational name from a place called Ostos which no longer exists; the surname was in the 15th century recorded near Écija in Seville.
OsunaSpanish Habitational name from a place in the province of Seville, named from Arabic Oxuna, perhaps named from Late Latin Ursina (villa) "estate of Ursus" a byname meaning "bear".
OyuelaSpanish, Western African The surname Oyuela is likely of Spanish or African (specifically, West African) origin, with roots in both linguistic and cultural traditions.... [more]
PagánSpanish Castilianized spelling of Catalan Pagà, from the Late Latin personal name Paganus, which originally meant "dweller in an outlying village" (see Paine).
PaivaPortuguese From the Portuguese word "paiva," which refers to a type of river or stream
PaixãoPortuguese Means "passion" in Portuguese, a reference to the Passion, the final period before the death of Jesus commemorated during Holy Week. It was originally used as a nickname for someone born on that day or for someone who had completed a pilgrimage on that day.
PalazuelosSpanish Habitational name from any of the places called Palazuelos a diminutive of Palacios.
PalenzuelaSpanish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous municipality.
PalmaSpanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Italian Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, and southern Italian: habitational name from any of various places named or named with Palma, from Latin palma ‘palm’. ... [more]
PalomaresSpanish Derived from Spanish "palomar," meaning "dovecote" or "columbarium". An occupational name for someone who was known for raising or caring for carrier pigeons or doves.
PalomequeSpanish It indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.