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.
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]
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.
CarrizoSpanish Nickname for a person who's bold, shameless.
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").
CarvoeiroPortuguese Derived from the Portuguese word "carvão," which means "coal." It likely originated as a surname for someone who worked with or lived near coal, or it could have been a nickname based on physical characteristics or personal attributes associated with coal.
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".
CasadoSpanish Origin uncertain. Perhaps from casado "married", it may also be an alteration of Quesada.
CasarrubiasSpanish Topographic name from the plural of Spanish casa rubia ‘red house’.
CasasSpanish Origin uncertain. Possibly from casas "houses", which was used for several location names. Alternatively, it may be a corruption of Casaus, which was the name of two French knights that helped in the conquest of Seville.
CasavantesFrench, Spanish, Basque Topographic name composed of casa "house" + avant "ahead of forward" + the suffix -es, denoting one who lived in the house located at the beginning of a village. This surname has died out in France.
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".
CastrejonSpanish Habitational Name From Any Of Various Places Called Castrejón Especially In Valladolid Province Or A Topographic Name From A Diminutive Of Castro ‘Castle’ From Latin Castrum ‘Fort Roman Walled City’.
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.
CavaleiroPortuguese From a nickname derived from Portuguese cavaleiro meaning "knight", a cognate of Galician Cabaleiro.
CenturiónSpanish Originally a nickname derived from Spanish centurión (ultimately from Late Latin centum) literally meaning "centurion". Historically, a centurion is a military officer who commanded one hundred men in an Ancient Roman army during the classical period.
CepedaSpanish A nickname for someone from the region where they grow vineyards.
CeraSpanish, Italian, Catalan, Sicilian Metonymic occupational name for a wax seller, derived from Latin cera meaning "wax". A famous bearer of this surname is Canadian actor and musician Michael Cera (1988-).
CerdaSpanish, Portuguese Nickname for a person with a prominent tuft of hair, derived from Spanish and Portuguese cerda meaning "bristle, stiff, coarse, short, thick hair", ultimately from Late Latin cirra.
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’.
ChapaSpanish An occupational name for a metalworker meaning "metal sheet", amongst other things. It may also come from the name of a place in Galicia, Spain, or the Basque word and oak bush, "chaparro".
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.
CifuentesSpanish Habitational Name Probably From Cifuentes In Guadalajara Named From Spanish Cien ‘Hundred’ (From Latin Centum) + Fuentes ‘Springs’ (From Latin Fontes; See Font ) Because Of The Abundance Of Natural Springs In The Area.
CintronSpanish Spanish form for the french "Citroen". Original from Puerto Rico.
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.
CoronadoSpanish from coronado "crowned" past participle of coronare "to crown" (from Latin corona "crown") applied as a nickname for someone who behaved in an imperious manner or derived from the village Coronado in Galacia.
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.
CuartoSpanish Means "fourth" in English. It is derived from the Latin word "quartus," which means "fourth." The surname may have originally been used to denote a fourth child in a family or to indicate that the family lived on the fourth floor of a building.
CubaPortuguese, Asturian-Leonese, Galician, Spanish habitational name from any of the places in Portugal (in the provinces of Alentejo and Beira Baixa) or Spain (in Aragon, Asturies, and Galicia) named Cuba, from cuba ‘barrel’ (from Latin cupa)... [more]
CuberoSpanish occupational name for a cooper, from an agent derivative of cuba ‘barrel’, ‘tub
CuelloSpanish, South American From Spanish meaning "neck". Could be a nickname for a person with a stiff neck.
CuencaSpanish Cuenca is an ancient Spanish last name which originated from Cuenca, a city in the Kingdom of Castilla.... [more]
CuervoSpanish Means "raven, crow" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin corvus. From a nickname for a man with strikingly glossy black hair or with a raucous voice. Alternatively, a habitational name from places containing this word (e.g. El Cuervo, Teruel).
Da LuzPortuguese From a religious epithet meaning ‘of the light’, specifically the Marian name "Nuestra Señora da Luz" (which means "Our Lady of the Light").
DamianFrench, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Slovak, Polish From the medieval personal name Damian, Greek Damianos (from damazein "to subdue"). St. Damian was an early Christian saint martyred in Cilicia in ad 303 under the emperor Domitian, together with his brother Cosmas... [more]
Da RosaPortuguese Literally means "of the rose" in Portuguese. It is generally a component of personal names; among women, it is a Marian name; among men, it is of uncertain application.
De AssisPortuguese Referred to a person who was originally from the town of Assisi (called Assis in Portuguese) in Umbria, Italy. This surname is borne by several Brazilian soccer players, including Ronaldinho (1980-; birth name Ronaldo de Assis Moreira) and João Alves de Assis Silva (1987-), who is usually called simply Jô... [more]
DebarrosPortuguese Portuguese: habitational name for someone ‘from (de) Barros’, of which there are numerous examples, all named from the plural of barro ‘clay’.
DebelenSpanish Likely from the Spanish word Belén, which refers to the nativity scene.
De La MoraSpanish "De la," in several Romance languages (including Spanish and Romanian), means "from." "Mora," in Spanish, translates to "mulberry."... [more]
De La MuerteSpanish (Rare) Means "of death" in Spanish. Name given to a person who worked as a graveyard worker.
De La OSpanish "O" is the archaic form of "Do" - apocope of "donde" - where, the personal name of a woman in the Hispanic world, and a French name of the twelfth century.
DelfinoItalian, Spanish From the personal name Delfino, from Latin Delphinus, from delphis "dolphin", regarded in medieval times as a symbol of goodness and friendliness.
De LimaSpanish "de Lima" is the surname given to the people who lived near the Limia River (Lima in portuguese) on the Province of Ourense, an autonomous community of Galicia, located at the northwest of Spain. The root of the name is Don Juan Fernandez de Lima, maternal grandson to the King Alfonso VI de León (1040-1109).
DellaItalian, Spanish Likely derived from the Italian and Spanish word della, meaning "of the".
Del RosarioSpanish Del Rosario, in Spanish and Italian languages, and do Rosário in Portuguese language (English: of the rosary) is a surname that has as its etymology, the Latin preposition, "de" meaning "of the" and the Latin noun "rosarium", meaning "rosegarden"1 or "garland of roses"2 but in this case, takes the meaning of "rosary", the Roman Catholic devotion to the Virgin Mary... [more]