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

Mendonça, 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 Mendonça surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mendonça in America

Mendonça is the 8959th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mendonça surname appeared 3,654 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Mendonça.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mendonça 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 Mendonça

The surname Mendonca originated in Portugal during the medieval period. It is derived from the place name Mendonca, a town located in the Viseu District of northern Portugal. The name is believed to have roots in the Latinized name Mundonica, which itself may come from the Latin words "mundus" meaning "world" and "nova" meaning "new".

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Mendonca surname can be found in the Livro Velho de Linhagens, a Portuguese genealogical manuscript from the 13th century. This document mentions individuals with the Mendonca surname serving as knights and landowners during that time. The surname also appears in various charters and property records from the 13th to 15th centuries in the Viseu and Beira regions of Portugal.

During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, many Portuguese explorers and navigators bearing the Mendonca surname played significant roles in the expansion of the Portuguese Empire. Afonso de Mendonca (1453-1502) was a notable navigator who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India in 1498. João de Mendonca (1485-1536) was a military commander who served in the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510.

In the 17th century, the Mendonca family established itself in Brazil, where it became one of the prominent noble families. António de Mendonca Furtado (1670-1730) was a notable colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Captaincy of Pernambuco in Brazil from 1690 to 1691. His nephew, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado (1701-1769), was a prominent statesman and diplomat who served as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and War under King Joseph I of Portugal.

Another notable figure with the Mendonca surname was Henrique Lopes de Mendonça (1856-1931), a Portuguese writer, journalist, and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Portugal to the United States from 1914 to 1920. His works, including the novel "A Ilustre Casa de Ramires," are considered classics of Portuguese literature.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mendonça

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

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 Mendonça 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 Mendonça 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 Mendonça was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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