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i actually have a friend who is "de souza".
although in its origin the name is portuguese, it was made popular with the colonization of india. it is still a relatively common name with portuguese-indians.
in portugal, however,the unaltered "de souza" is a somewhat rare name. the version "de sousa", on the other hand, is very common.

the name is actually "medeiros". being portuguese myself, i can tell you that it is the name of a region in north portugal (in the area of Minho)and also represents the place where corn stacks are kept - now for a little extra - the portuguese actress maria de medeiros has a small role in pulp fiction.she also plays anais nin in "henry and june", neside uma thurman.

http://www.medeiros.org/history.html

also:

[...Sometimes the correct spelling of a Surname can be determined by locating the place of origin for your original ancestor into this country. I believe the original spelling of the surname is Medeiros, Madeiras or Medearis. These spellings are all Portuguese meaning "One who came from Medeiros"....]

the above text is taken from the following website:
http://www.mindspring.com/~kellcin/history.htm

what M.S. says is highly unlikely, but there is a surname Metayer. that is probably what he meant.

It is a "sharecropper" a farmer, see the french word Métayer.