Menendez

Menendez, commonly written with the acute accent in Spanish as Menéndez, is a surname of Spanish origin. It is a patronymic surname formed from the given name Menendo, with the suffix -ez signifying "son of." The form Menéndez is the standard Spanish rendering, while Menendez is the common Anglicized version.

The name is widespread in Spain and across the Spanish-speaking world, including most Latin American countries, as well as among Hispanic communities in the United States. It appears in historical records dating to the Middle Ages and continues to be a common family name today.

Notable individuals with the surname include Bob Menendez (born 1954), an American politician who has served as a United States senator from New Jersey since 2006. The Menéndez brothers, Erik and Lyle, are known for the 1989 murder of their parents in California and subsequent trials, a case that drew extensive national media attention.

Variants of the name reflect language usage: with the tilde in Spanish, and without it in English-language contexts. The surname also appears in toponymic and institutional names in regions with Hispanic heritage, though such uses are country-specific.