Mendes
A Spanish and Portuguese surname that began as a patronymic, meaning “son of Mend” or “descendant of Mend.”
The #3,514 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 30,382 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mendes is a Spanish patronymic formed from the given name Mend, with the ending -es/-ez meaning “son of” or “descendant of.” In older surname systems, that kind of ending was common in Iberian names and often became fixed as a hereditary family name. The name is closely related to Mendez, which is the more familiar spelling in many Spanish contexts.
History
The surname is especially associated with Iberian Jewish and Sephardic families, and it also appears in Spanish and Portuguese naming traditions more generally. Historical sources note its use among Spanish- and Portuguese-Israelite families in places such as the Netherlands. In later records, Mendes and Mendez often appear alongside other Iberian patronymic surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same patronymic pattern that produced Mendes also produced many other well-known Iberian surnames ending in -ez or -es, such as González and Fernández.
From the historical record
“Mendel, and -|- Ger. sohn, son] MENDES 1 (Span.) the genit. of Mend: see MENDEZ I under Mend-el. ■ MENDOZA (Span.) app. f. the fem., mendosa, of Span. ffi^Mdrfjo,' mendacious.' MENIER (Fr.) i Miner [South. Fr. minier (Fr. mineur) ; of Celt. orig. : cp. Gael, mein, Ir. mdin, Wei. mwyn, ore, a mine]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Mendes
- Shawn Mendes (b. 1998)
- Sam Mendes (b. 1965)
- Nuno Mendes (b. 2002)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.