Find out how popular the last name Menda is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Menda.

Menda, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Menda surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Menda in America

Menda is the 93125th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Menda surname appeared 197 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Menda.

We can also compare 2010 data for Menda to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Menda

The surname Menda is of Spanish origin, originating from the region of Castile in central Spain. It likely emerged during the medieval period, between the 8th and 15th centuries. Menda is believed to be derived from the Spanish word "menda," which means a piece or fragment. This suggests that the name may have been originally used as a descriptive nickname for someone who was small or slender in stature.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Menda surname can be found in the Cartularios de Valpuesta, a collection of medieval documents from the monastery of Valpuesta in the province of Burgos, dated around the 11th century. This suggests that the Menda name was already in use by that time in the region of Castile.

In the 13th century, a notable individual named Gonzalo Menda was mentioned in the Libro de la Montería, a hunting treatise written for King Alfonso XI of Castile. This work provides insight into the presence of the Menda surname among the nobility of Castile during that era.

Another historical figure bearing the Menda surname was Rodrigo Menda, a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico alongside Hernán Cortés in the early 16th century. He was born in Extremadura, Spain, around 1490 and died in Mexico City in 1546.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Menda surname also appeared in various records and manuscripts from the Spanish colonies in the Americas, indicating the migration of individuals with this name from Spain to the New World.

One notable individual from this period was Pedro Menda de Bracamonte, a Spanish soldier and landowner who lived in Cartagena de Indias, present-day Colombia, in the late 16th century. He was granted extensive land holdings and played a significant role in the colonial administration of the region.

In the 18th century, a Portuguese nobleman named João Menda da Cunha (1707-1780) held the title of Count of Pombeiro and served as a diplomat and political figure in the court of King João V of Portugal.

These examples demonstrate the prevalence and historical significance of the Menda surname, originating from Spain and spreading to various parts of the Spanish and Portuguese empires over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Menda

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Menda.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Menda was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Menda has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Menda was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Menda, please contact us.

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