Region of origin Spain | ||
 | ||
Meaning Possibly a religious byname, from a vernacular form of the Latin Messias Related names | ||
Mejía(s) or Mejia(s), also written as Mehia(s), Mexia(s), Megía(s) or Media(s), 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 Latin American countries, including Colombia and Mexico, and Spain.
Contents
The surname may have originated as a toponym for the town of Muxia in Galicia, an autonomous community in north-western Spain. 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". 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.
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.