Ortega

Ortega is a Spanish surname. A baptismal record in 1570 records a de Ortega "from the village of Ortega". There were several villages of this name in Spain. The toponym derives from Latin urtica, meaning 'nettle'. Some of the Ortega spelling variants are Ortega, Ortego, de Ortega, Ortegada, Ortegal, Hortega, Ortiga, Ortigueda, Ortigueira, Ortigosa, Orreaga, etc. A cognate surname in Italian is Ortica or Ortichi, in Romanian Urzică, in French Ortie, all from Latin urtica.