Some of the Brazilian surnames Most frequent are Silva, Oliveira, Sousa, Lima, Pereira, Carvalho, Almeida, Ferreira, Alves, Barbosa, Costa o Rocha.
Portuguese is a Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin. It arose in the mid-3rd century BC in the northern region of what is now Portugal.
It is the official language of 9 countries and currently has about 240 million speakers around the world, making it the seventh most spoken language in the world.
About 200 million of these speakers are in Brazil.
List of the most common Brazilian surnames
- Silva : Comes from Latin Silva , Meaning jungle or forest. It is the most common surname of Brazil, it is estimated that more than 20 million inhabitants in the South American country are surnamed as well.
-Oliveira : Its origin is related to the old planters of the olive tree.
-Save : Originally used to identify the inhabitants of the Sousa River, located in the north of Portugal. Its variants D'Sousa Y De Sousa , Mean literally de Sousa.
- Saints : Of Christian origin, from Latin Sanctus , Whose meaning is literally"Holy."
- Lime : To denote the inhabitants of the vicinity of the river Limia (In Portuguese, Lime ), Which crosses Spain and Portugal.
- Pereira : Of Portuguese origin, it means"Tree of pears"
- Carvalho : Topographical surname, for those who lived nearby or work with oaks.
- Rodrigues : It means"Son of Rodrigo".
- Ferreira : From Latin Ferrum , Which means iron. To identify blacksmiths and metal craftsmen.
- Almeida : Used to denote the inhabitants of the village of Almeida, in Portugal. It also comes from Arabic Al Ma'idah , Which means"The plateau"or"The Hill"referring to the town of Almeida.
- Alves : It means"Son of Alvaro".
- Martins : From Latin Martialis , Which means"From Mars." Referring to the Roman God of War, Mars.
- Gomes : Of the proper name, Gomes. It is also a derivative of the Gothic Guma , Which means"Man".
- Barbosa : To denote the inhabitants of Barbosa, an old town located in Évora, Portugal.
- Gonçalves : It means"Son of Gonçalo".
- Araújo : To denote those who lived near a town called Araujo. There are many towns and places in Portugal with this name.
- Coast : To denote those who lived near a coast or a bank.
- Rock : Del Gallego Rock , Which means rock or cliff. It was used to denote those who lived in the vicinity of a cliff.
- Lopes : From Latin lupus , Which means Wolf.
- Freitas : It means"Roto"in Portuguese. It is associated with the inhabitants of stony areas, usually known as"Broken Earth".
- Mountains : To denote those who lived on or near a mountain.
- Cardoso : From Latin Carduus , Which means thorny. To indicate that someone raised cacti or lived in an area where they were common.
- Days : It means"Diego's Son".
- Ribeiro : Derived from Portuguese Ribeira , Which means stream of water. It was originally used to identify those who lived near a river.
- Ax From Portuguese Ax , Which means ax. Commonly associated with those who dealt with the cutting of trees by the use of an ax.
- Fernandes : It means"Son of Fernando".
- Teixeira : To denote to those who lived near Teixeira, the name of several localities throughout Portugal.
References
- Behind the Name. (2002). Surnames. 2017, from Behind the Name Website: Portuguese Surnames.
- Family Education. (2000). Last Names. 2017, from Sandbox Networks Website: Portuguese Last Names.
- Cynthia Fujikawa Nes. (2016). Names in Brazil. 2017, from The Brazil Business Website: Names in Brazil.
- Karen Keller. (2013). English For Dummies. United States: John Wiley & Sons.
- Milton M. Azevedo. (2005). English: A Linguistic Introduction. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
- Amber Pariona. (2017). Portuguese Speaking Countries. 2017, from World Atlas Website: Portuguese Speaking Countries.
- Simons, Gary F. and Charles D. Fennig. (2017). Summary by language size. 2017, by Ethnologue Summary by language size.