Coelho (,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: קוּאֵלְיוֹ, romanized Ladino: Kuelyo) is a Portuguese-Jewish surname that means "rabbit". The Coelho's are a historically known

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family with connection to the inquisitions of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(Galicia) and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The surname may be indicative of Jewish priestly origin, likely adopted by Portuguese Jews due to its phonetic similarity to the surname

Cohen Cohen () is a surname of Jewish, Samaritan and Biblical origins (see: Kohen). It is a very common Jewish surname (the most common in Israel). Cohen is one of the four Samaritan last names that exist in the modern day. Many Jewish immigrants ente ...

. This would have been crucial in preserving the historical origin of the family, particularly during periods of assimilation and exile. Pre-inquisition evidence suggests the family originated from the central and northern regions of Portugal (

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

).Herbert, A. (2014). The Pharmaca of Jozeph Coelho: A Family of Converso Apothecaries in Seventeenth-Century Coimbra. The Recipes Project. https://doi.org/10.58079/tcs9 Notable people with the surname include: *

Arnaldo Cézar Coelho Arnaldo David Cézar Coelho (born 15 January 1943) is a former football referee. He was the first Brazilian, indeed the first non-European, to take charge of the FIFA World Cup final when he officiated in the 1982 final between Italy and West G ...

, Brazilian football referee *

Bento Coelho da Silveira A is a Japanese-style single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch, typically including rice and packaged in a box with a lid (often a segmented box with different parts of the meal placed in different sections). Outside Japan ...

(ca. 1630-1708), Portuguese painter * Carlos Coelho, Portuguese politician * Carlos Pinto Coelho, Portuguese journalist, writer, photographer and media professor. * Claire Coelho, Australian football (soccer) player * Dorothea Coelho, American game show host *

Duarte Coelho Duarte Coelho Pereira ( – ) was a nobleman, military leader, and colonial administrator in the Portuguese colony of Brazil. He was the first Donatario (Lord Proprietor) of the captaincy of Pernambuco and founder of Olinda. Early life The bir ...

, Portuguese nobleman and colonial administrator * Dyego Rocha Coelho, Brazilian football player *

Eduardo Teixeira Coelho Eduardo Teixeira Coelho (January 4, 1919 in Angra do Heroísmo – May 31, 2005) was a Portuguese comic book artist best known for his adventure series '' Ragnar le Viking''. In some of his early work he used the pseudonym Martin Sievre. Born i ...

, maker of comic books * Eduardo Prado Coelho, Portuguese writer, journalist, columnist and university professor. *

Eliane Coelho Eliane Coelho (born in 1951 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian soprano singer. She was a soprano in the Frankfurt Opera and performed dozens of roles at the Vienna Staatsoper. Biography Coelho began studying architecture at a college in Rio d ...

, Brazilian soprano * Elzo Coelho, Brazilian football player *

Evelina Coelho Maria Evelina Coelho Martins da Fonseca (23 May 1945 – 26 November 2013), whose artistic name was Evelina Coelho, was a Portuguese painter, from Vila Fernando, Guarda, Portugal. Biographical notes She was born in Vila Fernando, Guarda, Portugal ...

, Portuguese artist *

Fabián Coelho Walter Fabián Coelho Alves (born 20 January 1977) is a Uruguayan former association footballer who last played for Central Español. Coelho was born in Artigas, near the Brazil border and the furthest city from the capital, Montevideo. Hono ...

, Uruguayan football player *

Gaspar Coelho Gaspar Coelho ( – 1590) was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary. He replaced Francisco Cabral as the Superior and Vice-Provincial of the Jesuit mission in Japan during the late 16th century. He catalyzed the disfavor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi against th ...

, Portuguese Jesuit *

Gonçalo Coelho Gonçalo Coelho (fl. 1501–04) was a Portuguese explorer who belonged to a prominent family in northern Portugal. He commanded two expeditions (1501–02 and 1503–04) which explored much of the coast of Brazil. Biography In 1501 Coelho was se ...

, Portuguese explorer * Henrique Maximiano Coelho Neto, Brazilian writer, politician, and professor *

Humberto Coelho Humberto Manuel de Jesus Coelho (born 20 April 1950) is a Portuguese retired footballer and manager. In a career mainly associated with Benfica, the central defender also competed professionally in France and the United States, during a 16- ...

, Portuguese football player * Jaime Luiz Coelho (1916–2013), Brazilian Roman Catholic archbishop * Jackson Avelino Coelho, commonly known as Jajá, Brazilian footballer born 1986 * Jackson Coelho Silva, Brazilian footballer *

José Dias Coelho José Dias Coelho (1923 in Pinhel – 1961 in Lisbon) was a Portuguese painter and sculptor, an anti-fascist and an important member of the Portuguese Communist Party. In his youth, José Dias Coelho joined the Antifascist Academic Front. Later ...

, Portuguese painter and sculptor *

José da Silva Coelho José da Silva Coelho (1889 – 1944) was a Goan author of several dozen pieces of wickedly satirical short fiction in the 1920s and 1930s, published for the most part in the Portuguese-language newspaper ''O Heraldo''. He is easily the most pr ...

, Goan Catholic writer *

Joseph Coelho Joseph Aaron Coelho is a British poet and children's book author who was Children's Laureate from 2022 to 2024. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2024, he was announced the winner of the Carnegie Medal for ...

, British poet and children's book author * Manuel Rodrigues Coelho, Portuguese organist and composer * Maria de Belém Roseira Martins Coelho Henriques de Pina, Portuguese politician * Mário Coelho Pinto de Andrade, Angolan poet and politician *

Nicolau Coelho Nicolau Coelho (c. 1460, in Felgueiras – 1502, off the coast of Mozambique) was an expert Portuguese navigator and explorer during the Age of Discovery. He participated in the discovery of the route to India by Vasco da Gama where he command ...

, Portuguese explorer * Nuno André Coelho, Portuguese footballer * Nuno Miguel Prata Coelho, Portuguese footballer *

Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza ( , ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His 1988 novel '' The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller. Early life Paulo Coelho ...

, Brazilian lyricist and novelist * Paulo de Almeida Coelho, Portuguese Paralympic athlete *

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the List of prime ministers of Portugal, 117th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 201 ...

, Portuguese politician and prime minister *

Sara Pinto Coelho Sarah Augusta de Lima Abreu Pinto Coelho, better known as Sara Pinto Coelho (1913 in Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe – 1990 in Portugal), was a writer of fiction, plays and children's literature, as well as being a primary school teacher and ...

, Portuguese writer and playwright *

Tony Coelho Anthony Lee Coelho (born June 15, 1942) is an American politician from California who served in the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the primary sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act and is ...

, American congressman

References

Portuguese-language surnames Surnames of Sephardic origin Surnames of Jewish origin

See also

References