Mejía (surname)

Mejía is a Spanish surname. Several theories exist as to its origins and etymology. The prevailing belief is that the name has Galician origins. The surname is most common in Spain and Latin American countries, including Colombia and Mexico.

Mejia

Origin
Word/name	Spanish, possibly Arabic or Hebrew
Meaning	Possibly a religious byname, from a vernacular form of the Latin Messias[1][2]
Region of origin	Spain
Other names
Variant form(s)	Mejías, Megía/Megías, Mexía/Mexías

The seal of the Mejía Canton in Northern Ecuador.

Etymology

The surname may have originated as a toponym for the town of Muxia in Galicia, an autonomous community in north-western Spain.[3][4] Another idea is that the word "Mexia" used to mean "medicine" in an old variant of Spanish, and that this is where the surname came from.

One common belief is that the name may have Sephardic origins, from when the Spanish Kingdom forced Jewish settlers to change their surname to Castillian. The translation of the surname for "Messiah" would then become the name "Mesía".[5] However, the Spanish people who travelled to the Spanish colonies in South America were not allowed to be Jewish or to have any Jewish or Muslim ancestors, and thus this explanation may not account for the popularity of the surname in modern-day Latin America.

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:[6]

• 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.[7]

People

Mejía, Mejia

• Alejandro Mejía (born 1993), Dominican baseball player
• Alexander Mejía (born 1988), Colombian midfielder footballer
• Alfonso Mejia-Arias (born 1961), Mexican musician, writer, social activist and politician of Roma origin (Gitano)
• Alfredo Mejía (born 1990), Honduran footballer
• Álvaro Mejía (athlete) (born 1940), Colombian long distance runner
• Álvaro Mejía (cyclist), Álvaro Mejía Castrillón (born 1967), Colombian bicycle racer
• Álvaro Mejía Pérez (born 1982), Spanish football defender
• Arístides Mejía (born 1960), Honduran politician, Vice President Commissioner of Honduras
• Arturo Salazar Mejía (1921–2009), Roman Catholic bishop of Pasto, Colombia
• Camilo Mejía (born 1975), U.S.-Nicaraguan war activist
• Carlos Will Mejía (born 1983), Honduran football midfielder
• Christian Mejía (born 1989), Puerto Rican football goalie
• Cindy Mejía (born 1988), Peruvian model and beauty pageant titleholder
• Clemente Mejía (1928–1978), Mexican olympic swimmer
• Cristian Mejía (born 1990), Colombian football striker
• Diego Mejía (born 1982), Salvadoran football forward
• Dionisio Mejía (1907–1963), Mexican football forward
• Edgar Mejía (born 1988), Mexican footballer
• Ernesto Mejía (born 1985), Venezuelan professional baseball player
• Félix Mejía (1776–1853), Spanish journalist, novelist, playwright and historian
• Felix Restrepo Mejía (1887–1965), Jesuit priest, writer, pedagogue, classical scholar and humanist from Colombia
• Fabrizio Mejía (born 1968), Mexican writer and journalist
• Gerardo Mejía (born 1965), Ecuadorian-American Latin-style rapper (singer) and record company executive
• Gilberto Echeverri Mejía (1936–2003), Colombian electrical engineer, politician and kidnap victim
• Hermann Mejia (born 1973), Venezuelan-born illustrator and painter
• Hipólito Mejía (born 1941), President of the Dominican Republic
• Jenrry Mejía (born 1989), Dominican baseball player
• Joel Mejia (born 1990), Dominican olympic sprinter
• Jorge María Mejía (1923–2014), Argentine Roman Catholic cardinal
• Juan Camilo Mejía (born 1981), Colombian soccer player
• Luis Mejía (born 1991), Panamanian footballer, plays goalie
• Liborio Mejía (1792–1816), Colombian independence war leader, politician
• Marco Mejía (born 1975), Honduran football midfielder
• María Emma Mejía (born 1953), Colombian journalist and politician
• María Isabel Mejía (born 1945), Colombian politician and economist
• Mariano Díaz Mejía (born 1993), Dominican footballer
• Matías Ramos Mejía (1810–1885), Argentine colonel
• Miguel Aceves Mejía (born 1915), Mexican composer, actor, and singer
• Natalie Mejia (born 1988), Mexican American musician
• Óscar Mejía (born 1978), Dominican footballer
• Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores (1930–2016), Guatemalan president
• Pedro Mejía (athlete) (born 1978), Dominican olympic sprinter
• Pedro Mexía (1497–1551), Spanish writer, humanist and historian
• Ricardo Mejía (born 1963), Mexican long-distance runner
• Roberto Mejía (born 1972), Dominican Republic baseball player
• Roger Mejía (born 1984), Nicaraguan footballer
• Sammy Mejia (born 1983), Dominican American basketball player
• Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Mexican film actor
• Tomás Mejía (1820–1867), Mexican general, executed for treason

Mejías, Mejias

• Javier Mejías (born 1983), Spanish bicycle racer
• Octavio Mejías (born 1982), Venezuela n weightlifter
• Román Mejías (born 1930), 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, a Puerto Rican actress, comedian, singer, and politician

Mexía, Mexia

• Alvaro Mexia, a 17th-century Spanish explorer and cartographer of the east coast of Florida
• José Antonio Mexía (1800–1839), Mexican politician
• Ynés Mexía (1870-1938), Mexican American botanist and explorer

References

1. http://www.4crests.com/mejia-coat-of-arms.html
2. http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Mejia-family-history.ashx
3. https://www.geni.com/surnames/mejia
4. http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/mejia-family-crest.htm
5. https://www.scribd.com/doc/6078304/Apellidos-Sefarditas
6. Mejía surname distribution
7. Gabriel Arango Mejía (1973). Genealogícas de Antioquía y Caldas: 3. ed. Bedout.