Show ContentsMendivil History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Noble surnames, such as Mendivil, evoke images of the ancient homeland of the Spanish people. The original bearer of the name Mendivil, which is a local surname, once lived, held land, or was born in the beautiful region of Spain. In Spain, hereditary surnames were adopted according to fairly general rules and during the late Middle Ages, names that were derived from localities became increasingly widespread. Local names originally denoted the proprietorship of the village or estate. Many Spanish local names reflect Arabic words or place-names because Spain was conquered by the Muslim Moors from the 8th to 12th centuries. The Mendivil family originally lived in the place named Mendoza, which is in the province of Alava. This place-name was originally derived from the Basque word mendi, which means mountain and otz, which meanscold.

Early Origins of the Mendivil family

The surname Mendivil was first found in Castile, an important Christian kingdom of medieval Spain.

Early History of the Mendivil family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mendivil research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1242, 1491, 1600 and 1659 are included under the topic Early Mendivil History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mendivil Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Mendoza, de Mendoza, Mendozo, Mendosa, de Mendosa, Mendoso and many more.

Early Notables of the Mendivil family

Notable bearers of the family name Mendivil were Rodrigo de Mendoza, created Marquis of Cenete by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1491; 15th century poet Iñigo de Mendoza; Ana Mendoza de la Cerda, daughter of Viceroy of Peru Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Princess of Eboli; Bernardino de Mendoza, 16th century Spanish naval officer; Juan de Palafox y Mendoza (1600-1659), a...
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Mendivil Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mendivil Ranking

In the United States, the name Mendivil is the 18,088th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [1]

Migration of the Mendivil family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of New Spain in 1535. He founded a university and established a printing press. He died in Lima, Peru in 1552. Also of note was Alfonso de Mendoza, who accompanied Herná.


Contemporary Notables of the name Mendivil (post 1700) +

  • Ulises Mendivil (b. 1980), Mexican footballer
  • Soraya Jiménez Mendívil (1977-2013), Mexican weightlifter and gold medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games; she died at age 35 on 28 March 2013 at her home in Mexico City after suffering a heart attack
  • Manuel Mendívil (1935-2015), Mexican bronze medalist equestrian at the 1980 Summer Olympics


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/


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