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

Menéndez, 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 Menéndez surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Menéndez in America

Menéndez is the 126018th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Menéndez surname appeared 136 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 Menéndez.

We can also compare 2010 data for Menéndez 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 Menéndez

The surname Menedez has its origins in Spain. It is a Spanish patronymic name derived from the personal name Menendo, which is believed to have come from the Gothic name Mimingus. The name Mimingus is thought to have been formed from the words "mimaz" meaning "to mimic" and "gunds" meaning "combat or battle."

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Menedez can be found in documents from the 12th century in the regions of Galicia and Asturias in northern Spain. Some of the earliest spellings included Menendez, Menéndez, and Menéndiz.

In the 13th century, a notable figure with this surname was Don Rodrigo Menendez, a nobleman and military leader from Asturias who participated in the Reconquista against the Moors. He was born around 1220 and died in 1289.

During the 15th century, the name appears in records related to the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Pedro Menendez de Avilés, a Spanish sailor and explorer who was born in 1519 and died in 1574, founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States.

Another notable individual with this surname was José Menéndez y Pelayo, a Spanish scholar, historian, and literary critic who lived from 1856 to 1912. He made significant contributions to the study of Spanish literature and culture.

In the 20th century, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, a Spanish philologist and historian who lived from 1869 to 1968, is renowned for his work on the origins and development of the Spanish language and literature.

The name Menedez has also been associated with various place names in Spain, such as Menéndez de Luarca, a municipality in Asturias, and Menéndez Valdés, a town in the province of Seville.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Menéndez

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

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

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

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