Mercedes (name)

Mercedes is a Spanish feminine given name, derived from Maria de las Mercedes ("Our Lady of Mercy" or "Mary of Mercies"), which is one of the Roman Catholic titles of the Virgin Mary. The word "Mercedes" is of Latin origin meaning "mercies" (the plural of mercy) from the Latin word merced-, merces, meaning "wages, reward", which in Vulgar Latin acquired the meaning "favor, pity".

Given name

• Mercedes, Princess of Asturias (1880–1904), Spanish royal
• Mercedes de Acosta (1893–1968), poet and socialite
• Mercedes Bass, American philanthropist.
• Mercedes Bresso (born 1944), Italian politician
• Mercedes Calderón (born 1965), Cuban volleyball player
• Mercedes Helnwein (born 1979), Austrian artist, writer and filmmaker
• Mercédès Jellinek (1889–1929), the namesake for Mercedes-Benz automobiles
• Mercedes Lackey (born 1950), fantasy author
• Mercedes Lambre (born 1992), Argentine actress
• Mercedes Lander, drummer for Canadian alt-metal band Kittie
• Mercedes Lasala (1764 –1837), Argentinian patriot 
• Mercedes McCambridge (1916–2004), actress
• Mercedes Masohn (born 1983), Swedish-American actress
• Mercedes McNab (born 1980), Canadian-born actress
• Mercedes of Orléans (1860–1878), queen consort of Spain
• Mercedes Pérez (born 1987), Colombian weightlifter
• Mercedes Peris (born 1985), Spanish backstroke swimmer
• Mercedes Ruehl (born 1948), U.S. actress
• Mercedes Sahores (born 1974), Argentine ski mountaineer and mountain climber
• Mercedes Sosa (1935–2009), Argentine singer
• Mercédesz Stieber (born 1974), Hungarian water polo player
• Mercedes Yvette Scelba-Shorte (born 1981), fashion model and actress
• Mercedes (singer), stage name of R&B and hip-hop singer Raquel Miller

Surname

• Eleoncio Mercedes (1957–1985), boxer

Fictional characters

• Mercédès, in the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo
• Mercedes, in Jack London's novel The Call of the Wild
• Mercedes Mercy Thompson, protagonist of a novel series by Patricia Briggs
• Mercedes, in the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet
• Mercedes Jones, from the TV series Glee
• Mercedes McQueen, in the British soap opera Hollyoaks
• Mercedes Lane, Heather Graham's character in the 1988 film License to Drive
• Mercedes, one of the five main characters of the video game Odin Sphere
• Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, from the video game Grim Fandango
• Mercedes Cortez, from the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
• Mercedes, one of the five Heroes in the MMORPG MapleStory

See also

• Mercedes (disambiguation)
• Marcedes Lewis (born 1984), American football player