Hi to all who are interested in the Meneses name. I am also a Meneses and I would like to share some of my research:
The Meneses name originates from a town called Meneses de Campos in northern Spain. It is located west of Palencia in a region known as the Camps of the Goths (Campos de los Goticos). Meneses de Campos has its own website that you can visit.
The town was founded by people who came another place called el Valle de Mena farther north. These people were Christians who were fighting the Moors (who were Muslims) and driving them back south (like El Cid). The Moors had previously conquered most of Spain, except the north, starting from the 7th century. As a result, many Christians had fled to the most northerly regions of Spain. The Christians from the north had the bloodlines of a mixture of people. Spain was originally populated by the Celts, then the Romans came in followed by the Visigoths (Goticos)who arrived in the 4th century. The Visigoths were German "barbarians" who had traveled from eastern Europe through Rome and then settled in northern Spain. There were many other people in Spain also, such as the Phoenicians, Basques and other Germanic tribes such as the Vandals and Suevi, who mixed in as well.
The name Meneses originates from the name of the Valle de Mena. My own theory is that people would probably say "de Mena es" and that eventually evolved to "Meneses (does that make sense?).
An interesting note is that the word "mena" means "moon" in germanic languages (remember the Goths were German). Are we then the people of the moon?
The people from Meneses de Campos likely began using the name as a surname when they left the town for other places.
The Meneses have spread far and wide in the world. Many Meneses have been associated with royalty both in Spain (Mayor de Meneses y Molina) and Portugal. Meneses have been governors of many places including Mexico (Yucatan and Nuevo Leon) and in South America. The first governor of Ceuta, Morocco, south of the Rock of Gibraltor, was a Pedro de Meneses. One of Hernan Cortez's men was also named Pedro de Meneses. There are even a couple of saints with the name (Beatrice da Sila de Meneses and Maria Romero Meneses).
The Meneses name has been combined with other names. One that stands out is the Tello name(or Tellez in Portugal). For instance you might see Tello de Meneses. But they are still Meneses. The Tellos de Meneses have their own thread on this site.
Another interesting fact is that the name has taken other spellings such as Meneces and Menesses. The name Menesses is found extensively in Louisiana, USA. I don't know how that happened but it might have come from some of the early Spanish explorers who went through the area. If anyone has information, I would be interested. It is funny that there is a Bubba Menesses in Louisiana that I read about who is a shrimp fisherman. He has an uncanny resemblance to the Tom Hanks character Forest Gump.
There are at least three towns called Meneses in the world besides Spain that I know of. One is in Hidalgo, Mexico. Another is in Costa Rica and another in Cuba.
Our family name has not produced any real famous people in history unfortunately but members of the family have been there alongside other famous people. Probably the most famous Meneses today is Alex Meneses, the actress. There was also a Perla Meneses who came out in American Idol. I think she is from Venezuela. You can find information on them in the internet.
If you just surf the internet you can find many Meneses who are doing many things.
I too am trying to track my ancestry. I'll post another thread to see if anyone can help. My grandfather Francisco Meneses married my grandmother, Margarita in Arizona somewhere in the 1920's. Other than that, we don't know much about him other than that he came from Mexico. Any more would be too much to explain here.
Anyway, I hope this information helps. Hope to see more information posted in the future.
Saludes to all the Meneses out there.
Frank Meneses