Mejía (surname)

Mejía is a Spanish surname of Jewish origin dating back to the early 1500s. In Spain, the surname is predominantly found in Galicia and Toledo. It is also common in several Latin American countries, particularly Mexico, Honduras, and Colombia.

Etymology

The first written record of the surname being used is in the marriage of a Galician man named García Sánchez de Mejías to the daughter of Juan Sánchez de Mendoza, brother of Don Lope de Mendoza, Archbishop of Compostela.

The surname may have originated as a toponym for the towns of either Mesía or Muxía in Galicia.

According to "El Blasonario de la Consanguinidad Ibérica" (The Armorial of the Iberian Consanguinity) by genealogists Ampelio Alonso de Cadenas and Don Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent, ''Mejia'' is described as having been brought to Galicia and León by Sevillians who escaped to the mountainous northern provinces amidst the Moorish invasions of southern Spain, Prior to this, the bearers of the name had lived in Seville since Visigoth and Roman times. After the Reconquista, some returned to Seville.

Another common theory is that the name may have Sephardic origins, from when the Spanish Kingdom forced Jewish settlers to change their surname to Castillian. The basis for this theory is that the literal translation of the word for "Messiah" is "Mesía". However, others have argued that the name could have simply been assigned at baptism by a priest who chose to use a biblical word, rather than as a result of translation. In addition, Spaniards with any Jewish or Muslim ancestry were not allowed to emigrate to the New World colonies, and so this theory might not account for the extensive popularity of the surname in Latin America today.

Finally, it is theorized that the word "Mexia" used to mean "medicine" in an old variant of Spanish.

Note that ''Mexía'' is the older Spanish spelling of the name. In the modern orthography of Spain, the spelling is ''Mejía'', though in Mexico the older orthography is still considered correct. Similarly, until recently Spaniards rendered the country name ''Méjico'' rather than ''México'', though this has reversed in recent decades out of deference to Mexico.

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 23.7% of all known bearers of the surname ''Mejía'' were residents of Mexico (frequency 1:450), 16.2% of Colombia (1:253), 14.4% of Honduras (1:53), 8.0% of Guatemala (1:172), 6.5% of the Dominican Republic (1:138), 6.3% of the United States (1:4,915), 6.3% of El Salvador (1:86), 4.7% of Peru (1:583), 2.9% of Ecuador (1:475), 2.8% of Nicaragua (1:185), 2.5% of the Philippines (1:3,461), 2.0% of Venezuela (1:1,266) and 1.8% of Bolivia (1:510).

In Spain, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:5,678) in the following autonomous communities:
* 1. Community of Madrid (1:2,644)
* 2. Castilla–La Mancha (1:3,787)
* 3. Catalonia (1:4,083)
* 4. Navarre (1:5,176)
* 5. Balearic Islands (1:5,189)
* 6. La Rioja (1:5,296)

In Honduras, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:53) in the following departments:
* 1. Ocotepeque Department (1:19)
* 2. Copán Department (1:31)
* 3. La Paz Department (1:32)
* 4. Santa Bárbara Department (1:40)
* 5. Comayagua Department (1:40)
* 6. Cortés Department (1:43)
* 7. Lempira Department (1:44)
* 8. Colón Department (1:49)
* 9. Atlántida Department (1:50)
* 10. Yoro Department (1:52)

Popularity in Colombia

The surname is a popular last name in Colombia, especially its Paisa region. According to the book "Genealogies of Antioquia and Caldas" by Gabriel Arango Mejía, the first Spaniard to bring the name to Colombia was a man named Don Juan Mejía de Tobar Montoya.

Notable people

Mejía, Mejia

Mejías, Mejias

* Antonio Mejías Jiménez (1922–1975), Venezuelan-born Spanish bullfighter
* Javier Mejías (born 1983), Spanish bicycle racer
* Octavio Mejías (born 1982), Venezuelan weightlifter
* Román Mejías (1925–2023), Dominican American baseball player, outfielder
* Sam Mejías (born 1952), Dominican American baseball player, outfielder
* Tomás Mejías (born 1989), Spanish football player
* Wolfgang Mejías (born 1983), Venezuelan Olympic épée fencer
* Yasmín Mejías, Puerto Rican actress, comedian, singer, and politician

Mexía, Mexia

* Alvaro Mexia, 17th-century Spanish explorer and cartographer of the east coast of Florida
* José Antonio Mexía (1800–1839), Mexican politician
* Pedro Mexía, 16th-century Spanish Renaissance writer, humanist and historian
* Ynés Mexía (1870–1938), Mexican American botanist and explorer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia (surname)
Spanish-language surnames