Portuguese Origin Surnames

This is a list of surnames in which the origin is Portuguese. Portuguese is the Romance language spoken in Portugal, Brazil and other places.

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Abel 1 English, French, Danish, Spanish, Portuguese
Derived from the given name Abel.

Abreu Portuguese, Galician
Meaning uncertain, possibly from a given name that was of Germanic origin.

Acosta Spanish
Spanish form of Da Costa (from a misdivision of the surname).

Alberto Portuguese, Spanish, Italian
From the given name Alberto.

Albuquerque Portuguese
From the name of the Spanish town of Alburquerque, near the Portuguese border in the province of Badajoz. It is probably derived from Latin alba quercus meaning "white oak".

Alexandre French, Portuguese
From the given name Alexandre.

Almeida Portuguese
Designated a person who had originally lived in the town of Almeida in Portugal. The place name is from Arabic ال مائدة (al māʾida) meaning "the plateau, the table".

Alves Portuguese
Means "son of Álvaro".

Andrade Portuguese, Galician
Possibly from the given name André.

Anselmo Portuguese, Italian
From the given name Anselmo.

Antunes Portuguese
Means "son of António".

Araújo Portuguese
Denoted a person hailing from one of the many areas that bear this name in Portugal, which is of unknown meaning.

Araujo Spanish
Spanish form of Araújo.

Araullo Filipino
Form of Araújo especially common in the Philippines.

Armando Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Derived from the given name Armando.

Barros Portuguese, Spanish
From the Portuguese and Spanish word barro meaning "clay, mud". This could either be an occupational name for a person who worked with clay or mud such as a builder or artisan, or a topographic name for someone living near clay or mud.

Belo Portuguese
Portuguese form of Bello.

Bernardino Portuguese, Spanish
From the given name Bernardino.

Bernardo Portuguese
From the given name Bernardo.

Bravo Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "angry, bold, brave" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Bruno Italian, Portuguese
Means "brown" in Italian and Portuguese, a nickname for a person with brown hair or brown clothes. A famous bearer was the cosmologist Giordano Bruno (1548-1600).

Cabral Portuguese
From places named from Late Latin capralis meaning "place of goats", derived from Latin capra meaning "goat".

Calvo Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Means "bald" in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, from Latin calvus.

Camacho Spanish, Portuguese
Meaning unknown, possibly related to the Celtic root *kambos meaning "crooked, twisted".

Campos Portuguese, Spanish
Portuguese and Spanish variant of Campo.

Capela Portuguese
Portuguese form of Kappel.

Cardoso Portuguese, Spanish
From a place name meaning "thorny" in Portuguese and Spanish, ultimately from Latin carduus.

Carvalho Portuguese
Means "oak" in Portuguese, perhaps originally referring to a person who lived near such a tree.

Castelo Portuguese
Portuguese cognate of Castle.

Castro Spanish, Portuguese
Means "castle" in Spanish and Portuguese, referring to one who lived near a castle. A famous bearer was Fidel Castro (1926-2016), revolutionary and president of Cuba.

Chaves Portuguese, Spanish
From the name of a Portuguese city, derived from the Roman name Flavius (being named for the emperor Vespasian, whose family name was Flavius).

Chávez Spanish
Variant of Chaves. A famous bearer was the labour leader César Chávez (1927-1993).

Clemente Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Clemente.

Coelho Portuguese
From the Portuguese word for "rabbit", either a nickname or an occupational name referring to a hunter or seller of rabbits.

Constantino Portuguese
From the given name Constantino.

Correia Portuguese
Means "leather strap, belt" in Portuguese, denoting a person who worked with leather products.

Costa Portuguese, Italian, Catalan
Means "riverbank, slope, coast" in Portuguese, Italian and Catalan, ultimately from Latin meaning "side, edge".

Crespo Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
Referred to a person with curly hair, from Latin crispus meaning "curly".

Cruz Spanish, Portuguese
Spanish and Portuguese cognate of Cross.

Cunha Portuguese
From any of the numerous places in Portugal called Cunha, possibly from Portuguese cunha meaning "wedge".

Da Costa Portuguese
Variant of Costa.

Da Gama Portuguese
Variant of Gama. This name was borne by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524).

Daniel um English, French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian
Derived from the given name Daniel.

David um English, French, German, Welsh, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian, Jewish
From the given name David.

Delgado Spanish, Portuguese
Means "thin" in Spanish and Portuguese, ultimately from Latin delicatus meaning "delicate, tender, charming".

Dias Portuguese
Means "son of Diogo" in Portuguese.

Duarte Portuguese, Spanish
From the given name Duarte.

Esteves Portuguese
Means "son of Estevão".

Evangelista Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Means "evangelist" in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Feliciano Portuguese, Spanish
From the given name Feliciano.

Felipe Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian)
From the given name Felipe.

Félix French, Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Felix.

Fernandes Portuguese
Means "son of Fernando".

Ferreira Portuguese, Galician
Denoted a person from a town named because it was near an iron mine, from Latin ferrum meaning "iron".

Ferreyra Portuguese, Galician
Variant of Ferreira.

Fonseca Spanish, Portuguese
Originally belonged to a person who lived near a dry spring, from Latin fons "well, spring" and siccus "dry".

Francisco Portuguese, Spanish
Derived from the given name Francisco.

Franco Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Cognate of Frank 1. This name was borne by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (1892-1975).

Freitas Portuguese
Means "broken" in Portuguese, a name for one who lived on broken, stony ground.

Gama Portuguese
Probably from a place name derived from Portuguese gama meaning "fallow deer doe", from Latin gammus.

Garcia Portuguese, Spanish
Portuguese form of García. It is also an unaccented form of the Spanish name used commonly in America and the Philippines.

Gaspar Portuguese, Spanish
Derived from the given name Gaspar.

Gil Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Gil 1.

Gomes Portuguese
From the medieval given name Gomes.

Gonçalves Portuguese
Means "son of Gonçalo" in Portuguese.

Gouveia Portuguese
From the name of the city of Gouveia in Portugal, of unknown meaning.

Guerra Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "war", given to a belligerent person or one engaged in warfare.

Henriques Portuguese
Means "son of Henrique".

Jesus Portuguese
Derived from the given name Jesus.

Jorge Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Jorge.

Lázaro Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Lázaro.

Lobo Spanish, Portuguese
Originally a nickname meaning "wolf" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Lopes Portuguese
Means "son of Lopo" in Portuguese.

Lucas English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch
Derived from the given name Lucas. A famous bearer of this surname is George Lucas (1944-), the creator of the Star Wars movies.

Machado Portuguese, Spanish
Denoted a person who made or used hatchets, derived from Spanish and Portuguese machado "hatchet", both from Latin marculus "little hammer".

Madeira Portuguese
Occupational name for a carpenter, from Portuguese madeira "wood".

Magalhães Portuguese
Denoted a person hailing from one of the numerous minor places of this name in Portugal, possibly of Celtic origin. A notable bearer was the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães (1480-1521), normally called Ferdinand Magellan in English.

Magellan History
Anglicized form of Magalhães, referring to the explorer.

Magro Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "thin, lean", ultimately from Latin macer.

Marcos Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Marcos. A famous bearer was Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos (1917-1989).

Maria Italian, Portuguese
From the given the name Maria.

Marques Portuguese
Means "son of Marcos".

Martins English, Portuguese
Derived from the given name Martin.

Mata Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan
From Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan mata meaning "trees, shrubs", possibly from Late Latin matta meaning "reed mat".

Mateus Portuguese
From the given name Mateus.

Matos Portuguese, Spanish
Variant of Mata.

Medeiros Portuguese
From various Portuguese place names that were derived from Portuguese medeiro meaning "haystack", ultimately from Latin meta meaning "cone, pyramid".

Melo Portuguese
Portuguese form of Merlo.

Mendes Portuguese
Portuguese form of Menéndez.

Miguel Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Miguel.

Miranda Spanish, Portuguese
Habitational name from any of the numerous places in Spain and Portugal bearing this name, possibly derived from Latin mirandus "admirable, wonderful". A notable bearer was the Portuguese-born Brazilian singer and actress Carmen Miranda (1909-1955).

Monte Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Italian variant of Monti, as well as a Portuguese and Spanish cognate.

Monteiro Portuguese
Portuguese cognate of Montero.

Moreira Portuguese
Derived from Portuguese amoreira meaning "mulberry tree".

Moreno Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "dark" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Nogueira Portuguese, Galician
From Portuguese and Galician nogueira meaning "walnut tree", from the Late Latin nucarius, ultimately from Latin nux meaning "nut".

Nunes Portuguese
Means "son of Nuno".

Núñez Spanish
Means "son of Nuño".

Oliveira Portuguese
Means "olive tree" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin oliva. It indicated a person who lived near or worked with olive trees.

Pacheco Spanish, Portuguese
Possibly from a diminutive of the given name Francisco.

Palmeiro Portuguese
Portuguese form of Palmer.

Paredes Portuguese, Spanish
Denoted a person who lived near a wall, from Portuguese parede and Spanish pared meaning "wall", both derived from Latin paries.

Pereira Portuguese, Galician
From Portuguese and Galician pereira meaning "pear tree", ultimately from Latin pirum meaning "pear".

Pereyra Portuguese, Galician
Variant of Pereira.

Pinheiro Portuguese
Means "pine tree" in Portuguese.

Pinho Portuguese
Habitational name meaning "pine" in Portuguese.

Pinto Portuguese, Spanish, Italian
Means "mottled" in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian, derived from Late Latin pinctus, Latin pictus "painted".

Pires Portuguese
Means "son of Pedro".

Ramires Portuguese
Means "son of Ramiro" in Portuguese.

Ribeiro Portuguese
Means "little river, stream" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin riparius meaning "riverbank".

Rico Spanish, Portuguese
From a nickname meaning "rich, wealthy" in Spanish and Portuguese.

Rios Portuguese
Originally denoted a person who lived near a river, from Portuguese rios "river", ultimately from Latin rivus.

Rocha Portuguese, Galician
Portuguese and Galician cognate of Roach.

Rodrigo Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Rodrigo.

Rodrigues Portuguese
Means "son of Rodrigo" in Portuguese.

Romão Portuguese
Portuguese form of Romano 1 or Romano 2.

Rosário Portuguese
Means "rosary" in Portuguese. This name was often given to people born on the day of the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Sala Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Romanian
Occupational name for a worker at a manor house, from the Romance word sala meaning "hall, large room", of Germanic origin.

Salvador Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Salvador.

Sancho Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Sancho.

Santana Spanish, Portuguese
From any of the numerous places named after Saint Anna. A famous bearer is the Mexican-American musician Carlos Santana (1947-).

Santiago Spanish, Portuguese
From various Spanish and Portuguese places called Santiago.

Santos Portuguese, Spanish
Means "saint" in Portuguese and Spanish, ultimately from Latin sanctus. This was a nickname for a pious person.

Serafim Portuguese
Derived from the given name Serafim.

Serra Italian, Portuguese, Catalan
Italian, Portuguese and Catalan cognate of Sierra.

Silva Portuguese, Spanish
From Spanish or Portuguese silva meaning "forest". This is the most common surname in Portugal and Brazil.

Silveira Portuguese
Means "forests" in Portuguese.

Simões Portuguese
Means "son of Simão" in Portuguese.

Soares Portuguese
Means "son of Suero".

Sosa Spanish
Spanish form of Sousa.

Sousa Portuguese
Originally indicated someone who lived near the River Sousa in Portugal, possibly derived from Latin salsus "salty" or saxa "rocks".

Souza Portuguese
Variant of Sousa.

Tavares Portuguese
From any of the numerous places in Portugal called Tavares, likely of pre-Roman origin.

Teixeira Portuguese
From Portuguese teixo meaning "yew tree".

Teodoro Portuguese
Derived from the given name Teodoro.

Torres Spanish, Portuguese
Name for a person who lived in or near a tower, ultimately from Latin turris.

Vale Portuguese
Means "valley" in Portuguese, ultimately from Latin vallis.

Vargas Spanish, Portuguese
Means "slope, flooded field, pastureland" or "hut", from the Spanish and Portuguese dialectal word varga.

Ventura Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan
From the given name Bonaventura.

Vicente Spanish, Portuguese
From the given name Vicente.

Vieira Portuguese
Denoted a person who came from a Portuguese town by this name, derived from vieria meaning "scallop". The scallop was a symbol of Saint James, and was traditionally worn by pilgrims to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Vilar Portuguese, Galician, Catalan
Means "hamlet, farm" in Portuguese, Galician and Catalan, from Late Latin villare, a derivative of Latin villa.