If you ask any Brazilian what the most common last name in Brazil is, for sure the answer will be Silva.
Silva, which in Latin means “forest” or “jungle," was brought by the Portuguese during the colonization of Brazil. The name was often given to those who did not have a family name or those who were not sure which city or region they came from. Thus, Silva spread rapidly throughout Brazil. The oldest record of this surname in Brazil is that of a tailor, Pedro da Silva, from 1612. After the Lei Áurea (Golden Law) was passed, many formerly enslaved people also adopted the surname Silva to begin their lives as freedmen.
In Brazil’s early years, the Catholic Church consistently kept birth records, and in them, the baptized child received only a given name without a surname. As the population grew, trying to distinguish people who had the same given name became confusing. In the 19th century, civil registration records (government records) became standard in Brazil and included surnames on birth certificates.
Brazil is a country with a rich history and culture. Let's learn all about Brazilian surnames!
Naming Conventions in Brazil
Brazilian surnames follow Portuguese naming conventions. A child typically receives 2 surnames: one from the mother and one from the father. Sometimes, the child may even be given both of the mother's surnames or both of the father's surnames, so you may often find people who have 4 surnames.
Upon marriage, a woman can choose whether to change her name. Some add one or more of their husband's surnames to their name or choose not to add any of the husband's surnames. For the sake of simplicity, some women keep one of their own surnames and then add one of their husband's surnames so that they still have the same number of names as before their marriage.
Traditional Brazilian names follow this pattern: one or more given names, plus the mother's father's surname, plus the father's father's surname. For example, the child of Pedro Costa Santos and Maite Lima Melo would be named João Alfonso Melo Santos.
If a child has all 4 surnames from both parents, here is what the pattern would look like: one or more given names, plus the mother's mother's surname, plus the mother's father's surname, plus the father's mother's surname, plus the father's father's surname. For example, the child of Pedro Costa Santos and Maite Lima Melo would be named João Lima Melo Costa Santos.
15 Common Brazilian Surnames
Here are some common surnames that can be found in Brazil today.
Surname | Origin | Meaning |
| 1. Almeida | Portuguese | a toponymic surname for someone who lived in the town of Almeida, Portugal |
| 2. Alves | Portuguese | son of Álvaro |
| 3. Costa | Portuguese, Italian, Catalan | riverbank, slope, coast |
| 4. de Jesus | Portuguese, Spanish | of Jesus |
| 5. Ferreira | Portuguese, Galician | iron, someone who works or lives near an iron mine |
| 6. Gomes | Portuguese | from the given name Gomes |
| 7. Lima | Portuguese | someone who lives on the banks of a river |
| 8. Machado | Portuguese, Spanish | someone who makes or uses hatchets |
| 9. Oliveira | Portuguese | olive tree |
| 10. Pereira | Portuguese, Galician | pear tree |
| 11. Ribeiro | Portuguese, Latin | little river, stream |
| 12. Rodrigues | Portuguese | son of Rodrigo |
| 13. Santos | Portuguese, Spanish | saint, pious person |
| 14. Soares | Portuguese | son of Suero |
| 15. Teixeira | Portuguese | yew tree |
Types of Brazilian Surnames
Due to colonization, many families in Brazil have a surname of Portuguese origin. As in other countries, these last names came from various sources.
Patronymic and Matronymic
Patronymic surnames were used to denote a person's father. In Portuguese, surnames such as Antunes (son of Antonio), Alves (son of Álvaro), Fernandes (son of Fernando), Gonçalves (son of Gonçalo), Nunes (son of Nuno), Pires (son of Pedro), and Rodrigues (son of Rodrigo) are patronymics, with the ending -es meaning "son of."
A patronymic surname could also be formed with the father’s first name, as in Pedro João, meaning Pedro, son of João.
Examples of matronymic surnames are Antonio Mariano (Antonio, son of Maria) or, in the case of daughters, Maria Isabel, meaning Maria, daughter of Isabel.
Toponymic
Some Brazilian surnames (including Portuguese surnames) refer to a place where the person was born or lived or to geographic features near where the person lived.
Examples of these surnames are Almeida, Azevedo, Braga, Barros, Brazil, Bahiense, Campos, Cardoso, Correia, Castro (old castle), Costa, Fontes, Guimarães, Magalhães, Macedo, Matos, Pedreira, Queirós, Ribeiro, Rocha, Siqueira or Sequeira (dry place), Serra, Souza, Teixeira, and Valle.
Some toponymic names are of indigenous origin, such as Jatobá, Parahyba, Palmeira, Pitanga, Pitangui, and Suassuna.
Non-Portuguese Last Names in Brazil
With the immigration of people from other countries (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Lebanon, China, Japan, and others), the diversity of surnames in Brazil has increased. Some foreign surnames have changed their spelling for many generations and today cannot be recognized in their home countries, such as the surname Collor (from the German name Koeller).
First Names as Last Names
Among the first names used as surnames, we can note religious names such as Maria da Conceição and Maria de Jesus, where Conceição and Jesus, although used commonly as given names, were given as surnames in some cases where children did not have a family name.
Also, in Brazil, descendants of famous people sometimes use the name and surname of an ancestor as a compound surname, enabling them to be identified easily as descendants of the famous ancestor. These last names include Ruy Barbosa, Vital Brasil, and Miguel Pereira.
Religious
In Brazil, surnames with religious significance are very common. These surnames arose mainly because of the abandonment of children in orphanages and religious institutions during the colonial period. These children were usually baptized with the name of a saint that was associated with the day on which they were found or baptized.
It was also a common practice for a people converting to Catholicism to change their last name as a way of demonstrating their new faith.
In the case of baby girls, Maria was usually the given name that was the first choice, followed by one of the Virgin Mary's honorific denominations, for example, Maria da Anunciação, Maria da Consolação, Maria da Graça, Maria Imaculada, Maria do Céu, and so on.
Your Brazilian Heritage
Do you have a Brazilian surname? You can find out the origins of your last name with FamilySearch's surname experience.
Learn more about your Brazilian ancestors with a guided family tree. Simply add what you know, and the automated tree builder will help you fill in the rest, all for free!
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