Martin Family History

English, Scottish, Irish, French, Walloon, Breton, Dutch, Flemish, German, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Italian (Veneto); Spanish (Martín): from a personal name derived from Latin Martinus, itself a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’. This was borne by a famous 4th-century Christian saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. In North America, the surname Martin has absorbed cognates and derivatives from other languages, e.g. Slovak and Rusyn (from Slovakia) Marcin , Albanian Martini , Polish surnames beginning with Marcin-, and Slovenian patronymics like Martinčič (see Martincic ). Martin is the most frequent surname in France and one of the most frequent surnames in Wallonia.

English: variant of Marton .

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Mártain, ‘descendant of Martin’ (compare 1 above). Otherwise, a shortened form of Gilmartin or McMartin ; sometimes also spelled Martyn.

History: As a name of Swiss German origin (see 1 above) the surname Martin is very common among the American Mennonites. The first Mennonite immigrants bearing this name came to PA in the first half of the 18th century. — The surname Martin of French origin (see 1 above) is listed in the (US) National Huguenot Society's register of qualified Huguenot ancestors (along with its variant Martain ) and also in the registers of Huguenot ancestors recognized by the Huguenot Society of America and by the Huguenot Society of South Carolina.