193,897 Global MENDOZA Family Members

MENDOZA Family History

Recorded in the spellings of de Mendoza, Mendoza, and Mendonca, this is an aristocratic locational surname of Spanish origins. It derives from a place in the province of Alva, the translation being the 'cold mountain' from 'mendi, a mountain, and 'otz - cold. The original nameholders were the governors of the province of Granada, and highly influential in the creation of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Pedro de Mendoza, (1487 - 1537), the famous explorer, was the founder of Buenos Aires in 1530, and probably more than any other person, responsible for the spread of Christianity and the Iberian culture throughout South America.