Place

Mata surname meaning

A Spanish and Portuguese topographic or habitational surname from mata, “wood,” “grove,” or forested land.

Confidence: Likely
US frequency: Rank 715 · 47,012 people
Common variants: Mata, De la Mata, Matas, Da Mata

Confidence: Likely. The main story is well supported; some details of the deeper root are less certain.

The short story

Mata is a Spanish and Portuguese surname from mata, a wood, grove, or area of forested land. It could identify someone who lived near a wooded tract or came from one of the many places called Mata, De la Mata, or Da Mata. Matas is a related plural-looking form, but endings and prepositions vary by region and record practice. Separate families could receive the surname from different groves or localities. The catalog uses place with likely confidence because the landscape reference is clear, while the number of independent Iberian formations makes one shared origin unlikely.

Also seen as: Mata, De la Mata, Matas, Da Mata

Sources used

Ancestry surname meaning for Mata (Iberian wooded-land and place routes)
Geneanet 'MATA' (Spanish and Portuguese topographic explanation)
Names2020_LastNames_RaceHispanic_Top1000.xlsx (2020 Census)