Meaning of the surname Hernández
Hernández is a Spanish surname of the patronymic type meaning "son of Hernando". It is one of the 10 most common surnames in Mexico. The most common surname in Mexico, carried by about 4.9 million people in the 2016 INE voter roll.
Formed from a father's given name with the suffix -ez, -es, or -iz, meaning 'son of'. Hernández is the son of Hernando, Martínez the son of Martín. About half of the most common Mexican surnames are patronymics.
In Mexico a person carries two surnames, the father's and then the mother's, so Hernández appears as either half of a pair: Hernández García, López Hernández. Read how the two-surname system works.