Márquez

Márquez is a Spanish-language patronymic surname derived from the given name Marcos, with the suffix -ez that denotes “son of” or “descendant of.” The acute accent on the a marks the standard stress in Spanish. The name is common in Spain and throughout Latin America, a reflection of historical settlement and migration. Variants and cognates exist in other languages, such as Marques in Portuguese.

The surname Márquez appears across many Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, and Peru. As with many Spanish surnames, it travels with families through generations and can be found among people in diverse professions, from literature and politics to sports and the arts.

Notable bearers include Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014), the Colombian novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate of 1982. García Márquez is best known for works such as One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, which helped popularize a style often described as magical realism and contributed significantly to 20th-century world literature. The surname, like many others of its type, is part of a broader Iberian naming tradition that links individuals to historical given names and family lineages.