Mena (surname)

Not to be confused with Mina (given name).

Mena (also: Spanish : de Mena, Basque : Menaca) is a Spanish surname that originates as both a Basque ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} and Spanish Sephardic ^{[5] [6]} surname.

It is also a given name, Mena. The Meena tribe of India is also spelled as Mena.

Basque meaning

Found in the valley of Mena (Alava, which today is Burgos), with branches in Bilbao and in Dima (Biscay) and it appears to have also moved from there into Navarre; regions now part of Spain. It appears to mean mineral or a vein of mineral deposits. However, at least one author, Lopez Mendizabal, holds that its meaning is pastoral. A variant of the surname is Menaca, with the '-ka' suffix representing "place of", as in "place of Mena", equivalent to the Spanish "de Mena". ^[2]

Notable people with the name

• Carlos Mena, Spanish countertenor
• Cristian Mena, Dominican baseball player
• Eugenio Mena, Chilean footballer
• Gabriel Mena, Spanish poet, composer, musician and singer
• Gilberto García Mena, Mexican drug lord
• Javiera Mena, Chilean pop singer
• Juan de Mena, Spanish Renaissance poet
• Juanjo Mena, Spanish conductor
• Luis Mena (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Luis Mena, former President of Nicaragua
  • Luis Mena Irarrázabal, Chilean footballer
• Maria Mena, Norwegian pop singer
• Odlanier Mena, Chilean general
• Omar Mena, Cuban sprinter
• Pedro de Mena, Spanish sculptor in the 17th century
• Sharlett Mena, American politician; member of the Washington House of Representatives since 2023
• Yair Mena, Colombian footballer

See also

• Mena (given name)
• Mina (surname)

References

1. Alvarez, Grace de Jesus C. (1 December 2014). Topónimos en apellidos hispanos. Garden City, N.Y., Adelphi University. ISBN   9788470392115.
2. Xabier Ormaetxea; Susan Ybarra. "MENACA (also MENA)". Buber's Basque Page. Blas Pedro Uberuaga.
3. Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia. Fundacion Bernardo Estornés Lasa Funtsa https://archive.today/20141202024322/http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/94202. Archived from the original on 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2014-12-02.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. "MENA". Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia (in Basque). Fundacion Bernardo Estornés Lasa Funtsa.
5. Rabbi Monique Susskind Goldberg (November 2004). "GENEALOGY - MEXICAN/JEWISH. THE ANSWER". Schechter on Judaism: Ask the Rabbi. The Schechter Institutes. Archived from the original on 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
6. G.Serrano Fenn (5 February 2009). "Issues affecting the lives of the hidden Sephardic Jews known as "B'nai Anusim"*". The Repercussions of Losing The Sephardic Identity. Sephardim Hope International. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010.