Portia is a feminine given name taken from the name of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Porcia gens The gens Porcia, rarely written Portia, was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to achieve the consulship was Marcus Porcius Cato in 195 BC, and from then un ...

'', which was ultimately derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

; translates to ''

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

''. It is best known as a character who disguises herself as a man to act as an imposter judge and save the life of Antonio in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

''. Porsha is a modern spelling variant.

Women

* Portia (wife of Brutus) or Porcia, the wife of Roman senator Marcus Junius Brutus * Portia Arthur (born 1990), Ghanaian author, writer and reporter *

Portia Dawson Portia Dawson (born August 2, 1971) is an American film and television actress. Her first role was in Vanilla Ice's movie, ''Cool as Ice''. Her most notable television role was a recurring part on the 1990s sitcom ''Blossom'' as Anthony's girlfr ...

, American actress *

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series ''Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...

or Portia DeGeneres, Australian-born actress *

Portia Doubleday Portia Doubleday is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Sheeni Saunders in the film ''Youth in Revolt'' (2009), Chris Hargensen in the film '' Carrie'' (2013), and as Angela Moss in the USA Network television drama ''Mr. Robo ...

, American actress *

Portia Geach Portia Swanston Geach (24 December 1873, Melbourne – 5 October 1959, Sydney) was an Australian artist and feminist. She was a founder and a president of the New South Wales Housewives' Association, as well as a president of the Federal Associ ...

(1873–1959), Australian artist and feminist * Portia Holman (1903–1983), Australian child psychiatrist * Portia Mansfield (1887–1979), American dance educator and choreographer * Portia Robinson (1926–2023), Australian historian * Portia Holmes Shields, American academic administrator *

Portia Simpson-Miller Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller (born 12 December 1945) is a Jamaican politician who served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 2006 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2016. She was leader of the People's National Party from 2005 to 2017 and Leader of the O ...

, political leader of Jamaica's People's National Party and Prime Minister of Jamaica * Portia White, Canadian singer * Portia Wu (born 1970), American lawyer * Portia Zvavahera (born 1985), Zimbabwean painter

Pen name

*Portia, pen name of

Abigail Adams Abigail Adams ( ''née'' Smith; – October 28, 1818) was the wife and closest advisor of John Adams, the second president of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. She was a founder o ...

(1744–1818) *Portia, pen name of

Grizelda Elizabeth Cottnam Tonge Grizelda Elizabeth Cottnam Tonge, who wrote under the name Portia, (1803–1825) was a Nova Scotian poet who has been called the "highly-gifted songstress of Acadia." Tonge's poetic talent, combined with the tragic circumstances of her early death ...

(1803–1825)

Fictional

* Portia (''The Merchant of Venice''), a character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Merchant of Venice'' *Portia Quayne, the protagonist in '' The Death of the Heart'' by Elizabeth Bowen * Portia Gibbons, a character on ''The Mighty B!'' *Portia, a minor character in ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of Young adult fiction, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two ...

'' *Portia Copeland, a character in Carson McCullers' novel ''

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940) is the debut novel of American author Carson McCullers, who was 23 at the time of publication. It is a Southern Gothic novel about a deaf man named John Singer and the people he encounters in a 1930s m ...

'' *Portia Blake, the lead character in the American radio and television soap opera ''

Portia Faces Life ''Portia Faces Life'' is an American soap opera first broadcast as a radio series from 1940 to 1953, and then on television for a single season in the mid-1950s. It began in syndication on April 1, 1940, and was broadcast on some stations that c ...

'' *Portia, a spider protagonist in '' Children of Time'', a novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky *Portia, Door's mother in ''

Neverwhere ''Neverwhere'' is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was de ...

'', a novel by Neil Gaiman *Portia Featherington, the matriarch of the Featherington family in the Bridgerton novels and Netflix adaptation. *Princess Portia, a character in Barbie: Princess Charm School. *Portia, from the "Spencer and Portia" segments of

101 Dalmatian Street ''101 Dalmatian Street'' is a British animated television series created by Miklos Weigert that premiered on Disney Channel in the UK and Ireland from 18 March 2019 to 22 February 2020. It is produced by Passion Animation Studios and animated b ...

*Portia Maye, the Houndmaster in

Dead By Daylight ''Dead by Daylight'' is an online asymmetric multiplayer survival horror video game developed and published by Canadian studio Behaviour Interactive. It is a one-versus-four game in which one player takes on the role of a Killer and the other f ...

Notes

{{given name Feminine given names