# Mertens

Mertens (Dutch pronunciation:) is a surname of Flemish origin, meaning "son of Merten" (Martin). It is the fifth most common name in Belgium with 18,518 people in 2008.

## Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 43.4% of all known bearers of the surname Mertens were residents of Germany (frequency 1:2,728), 34.8% of Belgium (1:487), 8.8% of the United States (1:60,847), 5.9% of the Netherlands (1:4,188), 1.7% of France (1:57,632) and 1.0% of Brazil (1:299,871).
In Belgium, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:487) only in one region: Flemish Region (1:367).
In Germany, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:2,728) in the following regions:
* 1. North Rhine-Westphalia (1:970)
* 2. Saxony-Anhalt (1:1,361)
In the Netherlands, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:4,188) in the following provinces:.
* 1. Limburg (1:959)
* 2. North Brabant (1:2,002)

## Noble House of Mertens de Wilmars

* Charles Mertens de Wilmars (1921–1994), Belgian psychiatrist
* Josse Mertens de Wilmars (1912–2002), Belgian jurist

## Others
### C

* Charles Mertens (1862–1919), Belgian painter, printmaker and illustrator
* Claas Mertens (born 1992), German rower
* Conner Mertens (born ca. 1994), American football player

### D

* Dries Mertens (born 1987), Belgian footballer
* Dylan Mertens (born 1995), Dutch footballer

### E

* Elise Mertens (born 1995), Belgian tennis player
* Els Mertens (born 1966), Belgian racing cyclist
* Ewald Mertens (1909–1965), German middle-distance runner

### F

* Frank Mertens (born 1961), German keyboardist and composer
* Franz Mertens (1840–1927), German mathematician
** Mertens conjecture, Mertens function, Mertens' theorems, and Meissel–Mertens constant
* Franz Carl Mertens (1764–1831), German botanist

### G

* Gregory Mertens (1991–2015), Belgian footballer

### H

* Helmut Mertens (1917–1984), German fighter ace

### J

* Jan Mertens the Younger (died ca. 1527), South Netherlandish painter
* Jan Mertens (1904–1964), Belgian cyclist.
* Jan Mertens (1916–2000), Dutch politician
* Jan Mertens (born 1995), Belgian footballer
* Jean-François Mertens (1946–2012), Belgian game theorist known
** Mertens-stable equilibrium, Mertens' voting game
* Jerry Mertens (born 1936), American football cornerback
* Jim Mertens (born 1947), American football player
* John J. Mertens (1869 – >1924), South Dakota politician
* Joseph Mertens (1921–2007), Belgian archaeologist

### K

* Karl Heinrich Mertens (1796–1830), German botanist and naturalist
* Klaus Mertens (born 1949), German bass singer
* Klaus Mertens (born 1950), German artist

### L

* Lennart Mertens (born 1992), Belgian footballer
* Linda Mertens (born 1978), Belgian singer
* Lothar Mertens (1959–2006), German historian

### M

* Michael Mertens (born 1965), German shot putter

### P

* Peter Mertens (born 1969), Belgian author and politician
* Pierre Mertens (1939–2025), Belgian-French writer and lawyer
* Pieter Mertens (born 1980), Belgian road bicycle racer
* Peter Mertens (born 1944) Canadian politician

### R

* René Mertens (1922–2014), Belgian racing cyclist
* Robert Mertens (1894–1975), German herpetologist
** Mertens' water monitor
** Robert Mertens's day gecko

### S

* Sibylle Mertens-Schaaffhausen (1797–1857), German art collector and musician
* Stéphane Mertens (born 1959), Belgian motorcycle road racer

### T

* Thomas Mertens (fl. 1666–1669, Flemish still life painter
* Tim Mertens (born 1986), Belgian racing cyclist

### W

* W. Mertens (fl. 1650–1675), Flemish still life painter
* Wim Mertens (born 1953), Belgian musician

### Y

* Yannick Mertens (born 1987), Belgian tennis player

### Z

* Zenia Mertens (born 2001), Belgian footballer

## Fictional characters

* Finn Mertens, main protagonist of the American animated television series Adventure Time
* Martin Mertens, a character who is Finn’s Father in the American animated television series Adventure Time
* Mertens, the protagonist of the 1998 PlayStation video game Colony Wars: Vengeance