Mendes (in the Portuguese form) or Méndez (in the Spanish form) is a common surname, originally a patronymic (a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor), meaning Son of Mendo or Son of Mem.
Some of the foremost Kshatriya families or (Roman Catholic Chaddos) who migrated after the battles with the Portuguese were Mendes, Saldanha, and De Souza mostly from Thivim and Aldona Bardez Goa.
They fled to Chandgad through the northern route of Pernam (Amboli ghats) Some fled to Belgaum, Bombay, Pune, and Karachi. Some of them joined the British and went to East Africa.