Feres
What is the meaning of the surname Feres? I'm not sure what language it comes from - the man who had it was Brazilian, so maybe Portuguese.
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This is definitely a Brazilian surname, actually the surname Feres is mostly found in Brazil than any other countries. Perhaps the surname derives from the Spanish surname Ferez, like in Gonzales to Gonzalez. This surname Feres is also of Polish origin or Slavic, from the form Feręs.That's is all I know for now, as I do not know the meaning of them yet. I'll look further into this surname sometime later.

This message was edited 11/2/2012, 2:44 PM

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According to Portuguese surname websites this name is from the Arabic faris, meaning 'knight'. So the name would date from the time of the Moorish presence in the Iberian peninsula. It might be a nickname taken from the various tales and puppet shows depicting warfare between Christians and Moors.
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Thanks
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Perhaps Feres could be a variant of the surname Ferraz, a very common Portuguese surname. The origin of Ferraz can be found here - http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?view=2&surname=Ferraz . Perhaps the surname Ferres is a variant of Ferraz, both surnames found mainly in Catalonia.
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