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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Spanish : from Matamoros meaning ‘killer of Moors’, a title given to Spain’s patron saint, St. James, in the Middle Ages (from matar ‘to kill’ + moros ‘Moors’). According to legend, the saint appeared to a 9th-century Spanish king during a battle, and enabled him to massacre 60,000 Saracens.

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