MENDES
MENDES means in the Iberian languages "the son of
MENDO", like Fernandes - son of Fernando, Henriques- the son of Henrique, etc.
The same way Arabs use "Ibn" or the Jews "Ben" or for the same reason
the English patronimics JOHNSON, ERICSON, etc. Usually in modern Portuguese those surnames
end with an "S" and in
modern Spanish with a "Z".
The surname MENDEZ/MENDES was current in the Christian Kingdoms of the Peninsula long
before the independence of Portugal (12th.century) and are current still today in Portugal
and Spain.
At the time of the forced conversions the "new-Christians" received current
surnames and MENDES/MENDEZ was one of them. The fact is that there are many crypto-Judaic
families and other descendents of the "new-christians" that bear this name. The
French politician MENDES-FRANCE was one of them.
But by no means are all MENDES/MENDEZ descendent of Jews.
Inacio Steinhardt
from the Anusim list serve
Mendes is the son of Mendo, exactly as Mendelsohn is the
German for the son of Mendel.
Johnson, in English, is the son of John. I don't know much about Slavic languages, but of
course they have Pavlova (fem) for the daughter or the wife of Pavlov, and Berkovits for
the son of Berco (Berl), etc.
In hebrew "Ben" and in Arabic "Ibn" . The first king of Portugual,
Afonso Henriques, was the son of (the) Count Henry, but the moures used to call him Ibn
Arrik.
Inacio Steinhardt
MENDES means in the Iberian languages "the son of
MENDO", like Fernandes - son of Fernando, Henriques- the son of Henrique, etc.
The same way Arabs use "Ibn" or the Jews "Ben" or for the same reason
the English patronimics JOHNSON, ERICSON, etc. Usually in modern Portuguese those surnames
end with an "S" and in modern Spanish with a "Z".
The surname MENDEZ/MENDES was current in the Christian Kingdoms of the Peninsula long
before the independence of Portugal (12th.century) and are current still today in Portugal
and Spain.
Mendes is the son of Mendo, exactly as Mendelsohn is the German for the son of Mendel.
Johnson, in English, is the son of John. I don't know much about Slavic languages, but of
course they have Pavlova (fem) for the daughter or the wife of Pavlov, and Berkovits for
the son of Berco (Berl), etc.
The first king of Portugual, Afonso Henriques, was the son of (the) Count Henry, but the
moures used to call him Ibn Arrik.
Rabbi David Mendes Machado, originally from Lisbon, became the rabbi of the Spanish-Portuguese congregation Searith Israel in New York City. ( 1734)
MENDES means in the Iberian languages "the son of
MENDO", like Fernandes=son of Fernando, Henriques=the son of Henrique, etc.
The same way Arabs use "Ibn" or the Jews "Ben" or for the same reason
the English patronimics JOHNSON, ERICSON, etc. Usually in modern Portuguese those surnames
end with an "S" and in
modern Spanish with a "Z".
The surname MENDEZ/MENDES was current in the Christian Kingdoms of the Peninsula long
before the independence of Portugal (12th.century) and are current still today in Portugal
and Spain.
At the time of the forced conversions the "new-Christians" received current
surnames and MENDES/MENDEZ was one of them. The fact is that there are many crypto-judaic
families and other descendents of the "new-christians" that bear this name. The
French politician MENDES-FRANCE was one of them.
But by no means are all MENDES/MENDEZ descendent of Jews.
Inacio Steinhardt
E-mail: Rufina Bernardetti Silva Mausenbaum