Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Jose, Juan, Manuel, Jesus, Carlos, Luis, Francisco, Miguel, Ramon, Pedro, Roberto, Jorge. Portuguese Anatolio, Godofredo, Anabela, Catarina, Ligia, Marcio, Paulo, Sil.

Basque: habitational name from any of several places in the provinces of Araba/Álava and Biscay in the Basque Country called Mendoza, named with Basque mendi ‘mountain’ + otz ‘cold’ + the definite article -a.

Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Iberian surname (see 1 above) at the moment of conversion to Roman Catholicism. After the return to Judaism (generations later), some descendants retained the name their families used as Catholics.

History: The Mendozas were a powerful Spanish family which provided governors of Granada, as well as many soldiers, explorers, and churchmen, being particularly powerful and influential in Spanish America. The explorer Pedro de Mendoza (c. 1487–1537) founded Buenos Aires in 1536.