The Mendes surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 10,162 people carried this name — #3,514 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 29,100 people counted. That is up 26% from 8,034 in 2000.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
3,703 people named Mendes live in Switzerland.
They live in 25 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 2,139 people named Mendes live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 1,186 people named Mendes.
Most of them — 734 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 69 départements, most often Paris.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 61 people named Mendes live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Luxembourg Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
40 people named Mendes is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Mendes in American newspapers,
1892–1940.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,959,821 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Mendes,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Gonçalo Mendes da Maia 1079–1159 · military personnel -
Gonçalo Mendes I de Sousa 1124–1179 -
Gonçalo Mendes II de Sousa 1170–1243 -
Gracia Mendes Nasi 1510–1569 · businessperson -
Joaquim Bernardo Mendes 1847–1911 · farmer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 205 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Mendes.
- Men 1,245 · U.S. census
- Mena 19,522 · U.S. census
- Menard 11,543 · U.S. census
- Mencarelli 128 · U.S. census
- Menconi 415 · U.S. census
- Mendel 2,642 · U.S. census
- Mendez 161,717 · U.S. census
- Mendonca 3,654 · U.S. census
- Mendoza 242,771 · U.S. census
- Mendy 312 · U.S. census
- Mene 148 · U.S. census
- Meneghetti 129 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Mendes is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.