Mancha
A surname most likely linked to La Mancha in Spain, or to a word for a mark or patch.
The #9,932 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,057 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mancha is most naturally understood as a Spanish locational surname referring to La Mancha, the well-known region of central Spain. The place-name is commonly connected with Spanish mancha, meaning a stain, spot, or patch, from Latin macula, “spot” or “blemish.” In some cases, surnames of this form could also arise from a descriptive nickname based on the same word.
History
As a surname, Mancha would have been taken either by people from the La Mancha region or by families identified by the word’s everyday meaning. The name is especially plausible in Spanish-speaking areas and in diaspora communities from Spain and Latin America. The excerpts provided also show La Mancha used as a recognizable place-name in older Spanish and English texts, supporting the locational reading.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
La Mancha is famous worldwide as the setting of Don Quixote, which helped make the place-name instantly recognizable beyond Spain.
From the historical record
“Adrian. Nido de urracas. Juanete. El callo que se cria en los piés, i parece que era el que tiene en medio una mancha negra con un agujerito, que por la semejanza 1 se llama «ojo de pollo». Aeta. Cierta raza indíjena filipina.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos