South American names include those from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
BetetaSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
BethencourtFrench, English, Portuguese (Rare) Bettencourt and Bethencourt are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population... [more]
BettencourtFrench, English, Portuguese (Rare) Bettencourt and Bethencourt are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population... [more]
BezosSpanish From bezo meaning "thick lips" in Spanish, referring to a person with blubber or thick lips.
BitencourtBrazilian, Portuguese (Brazilian), French (Rare), English BITENCOURT, derives from Bittencourt, Bettencourt and Bethencourt; They are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population... [more]
BocanegraSpanish Spanish: nickname from boca ‘mouth’ + negra ‘black’, denoting a foul-mouthed or abusive person. In the form Boccanegra, this surname has also been long established in Italy.
BolarSpanish Topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of soil of a particular type known as tierra bolar.
BombaPortuguese, Spanish, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak From bomba "bomb", (Latin bombus), hence probably a nickname for someone with an explosive temperament, or a metonymic occupational name for an artilleryman.
BonbaBasque, Spanish From Basque bonba meaning "bomb", (Latin bombus), hence probably a nickname for someone with an explosive temperament, or a metonymic occupational name for an artilleryman.
BorgesPortuguese, Spanish Possibly from Old French burgeis meaning "town-dweller" (see Burgess). Alternately, it may have denoted someone originally from the city of Bourges in France.
BotelhoPortuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian) From the Portuguese word botelho, which can denote a measure of grain, a grain sack, or seaweed, and was probably applied as an occupational name for a grain dealer or a gatherer of kelp or seaweed.
BragaPortuguese The first man to own this name was a feudal lord on Portugal, near to the region of Coimbra. Could also come from the other surname "Bragança".
BravoSpanish, Spanish (Mexican), Portuguese From a Spanish and Portuguese nickname for a fierce or violent man (from Spanish and Portuguese bravo "fierce, violent"). This surname was borne by Charles Bravo (1845-1876), a British lawyer and possible murder victim.
BrionesSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Riojan municipality.
BritoPortuguese The Brito family has its original roots in the village of Brito, around 1033 of the Christian era, where Dom Hero de Brito, lord of many estates in Oliveira, Carrazelo and Subilhães, all located between the Ave River and Portela dos Leitões, a very rich region and where the Solar dos Brito was located.
BrizuelaSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous neighborhood of the Castilian municipality of Merindad de Valdeporres.
BuenaventuraSpanish Spanish: from the personal name Buenaventura meaning ‘good fortune’, bestowed as an omen name or with specific reference to the Italian bishop and theologian St Bonaventura (canonized in the 14th century).
BuendíaSpanish Probably a habitational name from Buendía in Cuenca province, Spain.
BuenoSpanish generally an approving (or ironic) nickname, from Spanish bueno ‘good’.
BuitragoSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous municipalities: the Castilian one in El Campo de Gómara or the Manchego municipality of Buitrago del Lozoya in Sierra Norte, Comunidad de Madrid.
BulgariaItalian, Spanish Originally an ethnic name or regional name for someone from Bulgaria or a nickname for someone who had visited or traded with Bulgaria, which is named after the Turkic tribe of the Bulgars, itself possibly from a Turkic root meaning "mixed".
BustamanteSpanish Habitational name for someone originally from the town of Bustamante in Cantabria, Spain, derived from Latin bustum Amantii meaning "pasture of Amantius".
CababaSpanish Spanish (Cabaña) and Portuguese: habitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña ‘hut’, ‘cabin’ (Late Latin capanna , a word of Celtic or Germanic origin).
CaballéSpanish Used by the Spanish Opera singer Montserrat Caballé.
CaballoSpanish, Spanish (Latin American) Derived from the Spanish word cabello, ultimately derived from the Latin word caballus, meaning "horse". This denoted someone who worked in a farm that took care of horses, or someone who had personality traits attributed to a horse, such as energetic behaviour.
CabañaSpanish, Portuguese Habitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña ‘hut’, ‘cabin’ (Late Latin capanna, a word of Celtic or Germanic origin).
CabañasSpanish, Portuguese Habitational name from a place named with Spanish cabaña or Portuguese cabanha ‘hut’, ‘cabin’.
CalatayudSpanish From the city in Spain, in province of Zaragoza within the autonomous community Aragón. The name Calatayud came from the Arabic قلعة أيوب Qal‘at ’Ayyūb, "the qalat (fortress) of Ayyub".
CaldeiraPortuguese Name given to a maker of kettles or other cooking vessels.
CalderaSpanish Derived from Spanish caldera meaning "basin, crater, hollow", ultimately from Latin caldarium or caldaria both meaning "hot bath, cooking pot". The word also denotes a depression in volcanoes, and it is commonly used as an element for surnames denoting streams or mountains.
CalderónSpanish Occupational name for a tinker or a seller or maker of kettles from Vulgar Latin *caldaria meaning "cauldron". Alternately, it may be a habitational name for someone from any of various locations named Calderón or a topographic name from Spanish caldera meaning "crater, basin".
CamachoSpanish, Portuguese From the ancient European camb, meaning twisted or disfigured, denoting to someone with visible physical abnormalities, but could possibly also refer to residents of a particularly gnarly tract of land.
CamarenaSpanish Topographic name for someone who lived by a granary.
CamargoSpanish Habitational name for someone from a place in Andalusia called Camargo.
CaminoSpanish Derived from the Spanish word for "path", or "walkway". This could have been used to denote a person who lived near a path, or one who built paths for a living.
CampusSpanish Derived from the Latin word campus, meaning "field". It denoted someone who either lived in a field or worked in one.
CanabravaBrazilian Cana is the short form of 'cana de açucar' that means "sugar cane", and Brava is the feminine form of 'bravo' that means "angry". There is a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, called Canabrava do Norte, and according to oral tradition, the origin of the name is due to the disease and subsequent death of some animals after eating a plantation of sugar cane.
CanalesSpanish Spanish: habitational name from any of several places called Canales, from canales, plural of canal ‘canal’, ‘water channel’, from Latin canalis.
CanizalesSpanish (Latin American) This surname came from around the beginnings of 1800 in south regions of Colombia where sugar cane was cultivated. It's a variation of Cañizales, that literally means "sugar cane fields".
CanomanuelSpanish The first part of this surname is possibly derived from Spanish cano "hoary, white-haired, grey-haired". The second part is derived from the given name Manuel... [more]
CarbajalSpanish, Judeo-Spanish Probably a habitational name demoting someone originally from any of the multiple locations called Carbajal in León, Asturias, or Zamora in Spain. Alternatively, it may be of pre-Roman origin from the word carbalio meaning "oak", denoting someone who either lived near an oak tree or who was like an oak tree in some way.... [more]
CarboneroSpanish Famous bearers are Carlos Carbonero, a Colombian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Sampdoria on loan from Fénix and Sara Carbonero, a Spanish sports journalist.
CarcelénSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
CárdenasSpanish Habitational name from places in the provinces of Almería and Logroño named Cárdenas, from the feminine plural of cárdeno "blue, bluish purple" (Late Latin cardinus, from carduus "thistle")... [more]
CardeneteSpanish This indicates familial origin within the eponymous Manchego municipality.
CardinalEnglish, French, Dutch, Spanish English, French, Spanish, and Dutch: from Middle English, Old French cardinal "cardinal", a church dignitary (Latin cardinalis, originally an adjective meaning "crucial")... [more]
CarmonaSpanish Habitational name from any of various locations named Carmona, derived from Phonecian qʾrt-ḥmn meaning "city of Hammon" (the name of a Carthaginian deity).
CarreraSpanish, Italian Spanish: topographic name for someone living by a main road, carrera ‘thoroughfare’, originally a road passable by vehicles as well as pedestrians (Late Latin carraria (via), a derivative of carrum ‘cart’), or a habitational name from any of various places named with this word.... [more]
CarrilloSpanish Means "cheek, jaw" in Spanish, originally a nickname for a person with a distinctive cheek or jaw.
CarriónSpanish It comes from the knight Alonso Carreño, who distinguished himself in the conquest of the town of Carrión de los Condes (Palencia), where he founded his solar house.
CartagenaSpanish From the name of the city of Cartagena in southeastern Spain, derived from Latin Carthāgō Nova meaning "New Carthage" (ultimately derived from Phonecian qrt-ḥdšt meaning "new city").
CasabuenaSpanish (Modern, Rare) Means "Happy House" or "House of Happiness" in Spanish, with the Spanish word "Casa", which means "House" and Buena, meaning "Happy" or "Happiness".
CascalhoPortuguese (?) What I know about this surname is that it came from Alentejo, a region in Portugal countryside. The eldest Cascalho I know lived in Évora (city in this province) so I assume the name born there...
CastañedaSpanish Habitational name from any of various places called Castañeda, a Spanish word meaning "chesnut grove", itself derived from castaña meaning "chesnut".
CavaItalian, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese From cava ‘cave’, ‘cellar’ (from Latin cavea), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone employed in the wine cellars of a great house, a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a cave, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word.
CerqueiraPortuguese Habitational name from any of various places named Cerquerira, in most cases from a Latin derivative of quercus "oak". The family name also occurs in Sicily, probably of the same origin.
CespedesSpanish From the plural of cesped "peat", "turf" (Latin caespes, genitive caespitis), applied as a habitational name from a place named Céspedes (for example in Burgos province) or named with this word, or a topographic name for someone who lived by an area of peat, or possibly as a metonymic occupational name for someone who cut and sold turf.
ChaconSpanish Spanish (Chacón): nickname from chacón ‘gecko’.
ChapinFrench, Spanish From a reduced form of French eschapin or Spanish chapín, a term for a light (woman's) shoe; perhaps a nickname for someone who habitually wore this type of footwear or possibly a metonymic occupational name for a shoemaker.
ChicaSpanish Apparently from chica, feminine form of chico ‘small’, ‘young’ (see Chico), but a variant of the habitational name Checa, from a place so named in Jaén province is also a possibility.
ChiclanaSpanish This indicates familial origin within either of 2 eponymous Andalusian municipalities: Chiclana de la Frontera or Chiclana de Segura.
ChidoSpanish Likely given to someone who lived in a cold environment
ChinchillaSpanish Originally denoted a person from the Spanish town of Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón in the province of Albacete. The place name is possibly of Arabic origin.
CirujanoSpanish, Filipino Means "surgeon" in Spanish, used for someone who was a surgeon by profession.
CisnerosSpanish Habitational name from Cisneros, a place in the province of Palencia, named with a derivative of Spanish cisne 'swan' (via Old French and Latin from Greek kyknos).
ClavelSpanish Metonymic occupational name for a spice trader or a nail maker, derived from Spanish clavel or Catalan clavell meaning "nail", later also "clove", itself a derivative of Latin clavellus "nail".
CorcovadoSpanish Means "hunchback" in Spanish. It would denote a person with a curved spine.
CordeiroPortuguese, Galician Means "young lamb" in Portuguese and Galician (Latin cordarius, a derivative of cordus "young", "new")... [more]
CorderoSpanish Means "lamb" in Spanish, either used as an occupational name for a shepherd or a religious name referring to Jesus as the Lamb of God.
CórdobaSpanish Indicates someone who was originally from the city of Córdoba (Cordova) in Andalusia, Spain. The name itself is derived from Phonecian Qʾrtuba meaning "Juba’s city", itself from Phonecian qʾrt meaning "city" and juba referring to King Juba I of Numidia.
CoreanoFilipino, Spanish, Portuguese Means "Korean" in Spanish and Portuguese, possibly an ethnic name or regional name for someone from Korea or who had connections with Korea.
CorralesSpanish Habitational name for someone originally from any of the various locations named Corrales in Spain, from Spanish corral meaning "coral, enclosure".
CorteSpanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese From corte ‘court', applied as an occupational name for someone who worked at a manorial court or a topographic name for someone who lived in or by one.