Mena (surname) explained

Mena (also: Spanish; Castilian: 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

See also

• Mena (given name)
• Mina (surname)

Notes and References

1. Book: Alvarez, Grace de Jesus C.. Topónimos en apellidos hispanos. Garden City, N.Y., Adelphi University. 9788470392115 . 1 December 2014.
2. Web site: MENACA (also MENA) . Xabier Ormaetxea . Susan Ybarra . Buber's Basque Page . Blas Pedro Uberuaga .
3. Web site: . dead . Fundacion Bernardo Estornés Lasa Funtsa . Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia . 2014-12-02 . https://archive.today/20141202024322/http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/94202 . 2014-12-02 .
4. Web site: MENA . eu . Fundacion Bernardo Estornés Lasa Funtsa . Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia .
5. Web site: GENEALOGY - MEXICAN/JEWISH. THE ANSWER . November 2004 . Rabbi Monique Susskind Goldberg . Schechter on Judaism: Ask the Rabbi . The Schechter Institutes . 2013-06-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101218211640/http://schechter.edu/AskTheRabbi.aspx?ID=155 . 2010-12-18 .
6. Web site: Issues affecting the lives of the hidden Sephardic Jews known as "B'nai Anusim"* . dead . The Repercussions of Losing The Sephardic Identity . 5 February 2009 . G.Serrano Fenn . Sephardim Hope International . 27 October 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101027142101/http://www.sephardimhope.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=55 .