Medina (surname)

Wiktionary logo
Look up Medina in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Medina is a common Mediterranean toponymic surname of Spanish-Moorish and Sephardic Jewish origin.

The surname was derived from several cities and towns of Spain such as Medina del Campo, Medina de Pomar, Medina de Rioseco, Medinaceli, Medina-Sidonia and Medina de las Torres, Italy, such as Medina, Campania and Malta, such as Mdina. The use of the term dates back to the Muslim rule of Al-Andalus, the Emirate of Sicily and the times of Islam in Malta (8th–15th century) and it originates from the Arabic word madīnah (مَدِيْنَة), which means "city", ultimately derived from Aramaic.[1] Many families that came new to these places took it as a surname during the Reconquista. The surname was imported to the Spanish colonies by the conquistadores. Medina is a common surname among Moriscos and Conversos/Marranos too.

Notable people with the surname include:

See also

Search for "Medina" on Wikipedia.

References

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.