Merida
A surname most likely taken from the Spanish city of Mérida, so it is probably a locational name.
The #7,536 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 69,994 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Merida is best understood as a surname derived from the place-name Mérida in western Spain. The city’s name goes back to Latin Emerita Augusta, the Roman name for the colony founded for retired soldiers; over time this was shortened in Spanish to Mérida. As a surname, it would originally have identified someone who came from that town or had some association with it.
History
The form appears in Spanish and Hispanic contexts as a place-derived surname, and the city of Mérida itself has a long Roman and later Christian history. The excerpts also mention Mérida in connection with Spanish saints and places, which fits the surname’s geographic background, though they do not provide a direct surname explanation. In modern use, Merida is found beyond Spain through migration to the Americas and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Mérida is one of Spain’s most historically important Roman cities, and its name ultimately means “the colony of the retired.”
From the historical record
“Valencia, Toledo, Talavera, Zamora, Moreno (see Sierra), Prado, Merida, Villareal, Castroverde, Alcantara, Saragossa, Barcelona, Malaga, Astorga, Alameda, Alcazar, Montserrat, Ebro, Gaudiana, Almazor, Rounceval (Ronoevalles), Mancha,”
— A Grammar of American Surnames