Portuguese Surname

A Portuguese name, or Lusophone name – a personal name in the Portuguese language – is typically composed of one or two personal names, the mother's family surname and the father's family surname (rarely only one surname, sometimes more than two). For practicality, usually only the last surname ( excluding prepositions) is used in formal greetings.

General

Portuguese law establishes the need for a child to have at least one personal name and one surname from one of the parents. The law also establishes the maximum number of names allowed: up to two personal names and four surnames. Advice from the says of this restriction that a name "may contain a maximum of six simple words or compounds, as a rule, up to two first names and four surnames"; more may be permissible in some circumstances.

Usually, the maternal surnames precede the paternal ones, but the opposite is also possible. If the father is unknown, or he has not acknowledged the child, only the mother's family name(s) is/are used. A child can receive surnames from their parents' ancestors, even if those surnames are not part of the parents' names, provided that the parents prove those names were used by their ancestors.

Number of names

It is not uncommon in Portugal that a married woman has two personal names and six surnames, two from her mother's family, two from her father's family, and the last two coming from her husband. In addition, some of these names may be made of more than one word, so that a full feminine name can have more than 12 words. For instance, the name "''Maria do Carmo Mão de Ferro e Cunha de Almeida Santa Rita Santos Abreu''" would not be surprising in a married woman. Mão de Ferro (iron hand) and Santa Rita (after Saint Rita of Cascia) count only as one surname each. In this case, Santos Abreu would probably have come from this woman's husband. She would be typically known as Maria do Carmo Abreu (since Marian invocation names tend to stick together) and would be typically alphasorted and collated under Abreu.

In Portugal, the custom of giving a child four surnames is popular, since this way a child can have each of their parents' surnames. For instance, the Emperor Pedro I of Brazil (also known as King Pedro IV of Portugal) (1798–1834) had the full name of ''Pedro de Alcântara Francisco Antônio João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim de Bourbon e Bragança'', and his son, the Emperor Pedro II of Brazil, had the full name of ''Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Habsburgo-Lorena e Bragança''. For the sake of simplicity, most Portuguese people use only two surnames.

For example, if ''José Santos Almeida'' and ''Maria Abreu Melo'' had a daughter, her name could simply be ''Joana Melo Almeida'' (personal name + mother's surname + father's surname). However, they could give her two personal names, for example ''Joana Gabriela'', and combine their surnames in various ways, such as ''Joana Gabriela Melo Almeida'', ''Joana Gabriela Abreu Melo Almeida'' (two surnames from the mother, one from the father), ''Joana Gabriela Abreu Santos Almeida'' (one name from the mother, two from the father), or even ''Joana Gabriela Abreu Melo Santos Almeida'' (two names from each parent). It would also be possible to use surnames that are not part of either parent's legal name, but which the parents would be entitled to use, i.e. a surname from a grandparent or a great-grandparent that was not transmitted to the father or the mother. This child would probably become known by her final surname, ''Joana Almeida''. However, her parents could decide to change the order of surnames and name her ''Joana Almeida Melo'', etc. In this case she would probably be known as ''Joana Melo''.

In Portugal, having only one surname is rare, and it usually happens when both the parents have the same surname, to avoid repetitive combinations such as ''António Santos Santos'' (which would, however, be an acceptable legal name). In Brazil, having only one surname is common in areas with large communities of non-Portuguese immigrants.

Spelling

Portuguese names have a standard spelling, since names are considered as regular nouns, and are thus subject to the orthographical rules of the Portuguese language. The spelling of many names has evolved through times and with orthography reforms; at the same time, archaic forms of names survive, though they are considered misspellings by current spelling rules. The ''Acordo Ortográfico'' ("Orthographic Agreement"), valid in Brazil and Portugal, states on Section XI (Proper Nouns): ''Os nomes próprios personativos, locativos e de qualquer natureza, sendo portugueses ou aportuguesados, serão sujeitos às mesmas regras estabelecidas para os nomes comuns.'' ("Anthroponymic and toponymic proper nouns, if Portuguese or incorporated to the Portuguese language, are subject to the same spelling rules established to regular nouns.").

In Portugal, personal names have a standard spelling that is considered the norm (even for non-contemporary figures) and the rules are enforced by law by the 'Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado'. There is a defined list of allowed names; misspelt and archaic forms (e.g. Luiz is the archaic form of Luís), and names containing foreign letters – k, y, w – are usually not allowed. However, older people who were registered with archaic forms have continued to use them (examples include Manoel de Oliveira – the modern spelling would be Manuel). Regarding surnames, there are no legal restrictions, and as such many people continue to use archaic spellings of family names, as in Athayde or Telles (modern forms Ataíde and Teles).

In Brazil, there are no laws concerning names, and only obscene or ridiculous names are forbidden when parents register the birth of a child at the local ''cartório de registro civil'' (Civil registry). Many archaic spellings coexist with the orthographically correct, and even with fancy orthographies (Felipe ommon Philippe rchaic and traditional Fellype ancy. Names of international inspiration are common, bringing with them the unusual characters "k", "w", and "y" (Katya, William), diacritics that do not match the Brazilian pronunciation (Desirée, pronounced Desirrê) or do not exist in Portuguese (Thaïs), double letters that retain their foreign pronunciation (Roosevelt) or not (Giovanni), silent letters (as in the formerly mentioned Desirée and Thaïs), and letters that are intended to sound differently from the orthographic norms (Juan, if intended to sound as in Spanish, Hannah, if the initial "h" is intended as an aspiration). Parents can make up any type of name, and suffixes with an English or French "flavour" are often used to give foreign allure to their offspring's names, such as "-son" for boys and "-elly" for girls (Deividson, Jéferson, Joeldson, Maiksson, Andrielly, Marcelly, Nadrielly, Nathyelly, etc.). This phenomenon can be easily seen in Brazilian football players' names.

Names of deceased historical figures must be spelled following the current orthographic rules: Luís de Camões (not ''Luiz de Camoens''), Venceslau Brás (not ''Wenceslau Braz''), Euclides da Cunha (not ''Euclydes da Cunha''), Tomás António Gonzaga (not ''Thomaz Antonio Gonzaga'') etc.

The preposition ''de''

The preposition ''de'' and its grammatical forms (''da'', ''das'', ''do'', ''dos'') are used in Portuguese surnames, such as in Maria ''da'' Cunha, José ''das'' Neves, Joana ''do'' Rosário, Luís ''dos'' Santos, Gabriela ''de'' Sousa. The last means "from" or "of", while the others mean "from the" or "of the". The current convention in Portuguese is that they be written in lower case. These are part of a composite name, i.e., "Sousa" is different from "de Sousa," but both are ordered under 'S' in an alphabetical list. Therefore, one should not refer to ''Luiz Pereira da Silva'' as ''Mr. da Silva'' but rather ''Mr. Silva''. The conjunction e (and) is also common, e.g. "Maria Costa e Silva". Most commonly this would be a composite surname.

The best-known exception to this norm is former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, who is frequently referred to as President Dos Santos, even among Portuguese-speaking people and in Portuguese-language media (although, in Portugal, the forms "Presidente José Eduardo dos Santos" or "Presidente Eduardo dos Santos" are still more common). Likewise, the Anglophone media often ignores this rule when referring to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as ''Mr. Da Silva'', instead of ''Mr. Silva''.

The name 'Maria'

The personal name Maria (like English ''Mary'', from Hebrew ''Miryam'', via Latin ''Maria'') is extremely common as a feminine personal name and even combined with masculine names. Since the turn of the 21st century, a new wave of traditional personal names has resulted in an increase in its popularity. In 2014, it was the most common girl's name in Portugal, more than twice the second-rated ''Matilde''.

Surname and marriage

In Portugal since 1977, and in Brazil since the 1970s, a woman has the option of whether or not to change her name after marriage. In Portugal, since 1977, and in Brazil, since 2002, a husband can also adopt his wife's surname. In Portugal, when this happens, usually both spouses change their name after marriage (for example, ''José Santos Almeida'' and ''Maria Abreu Melo'' could become ''José Santos Melo Almeida'' and ''Maria Abreu Melo Almeida'' or even "José Santos Almeida Melo" and "Maria Abreu Melo Almeida"). In Brazil, there is not yet a perceived pattern.

The custom of a woman adopting a different surname through marriage was not originally a Portuguese-Brazilian tradition. It spread in the late 19th century in the upper classes, under French influence. After the 1940s, it became almost socially obligatory. Not doing so was seen as evidence of concubinage, particularly until the 1970s. There is no longer a distinct pattern, with both men and women being allowed to choose whether to change or not change their surname(s).

Mandatory adoption of a new combined name led to unusual combinations when the woman's surname was kept, as in the (not uncommon) case of both spouses sharing a surname. Another confusing situation occurred, for example, when a woman named ''Ana Lima Silva'' married a man named ''João Lima''. In such a situation her name could become ''Ana Lima Silva Lima''.

Nowadays in Portugal, a person may adopt their spouse's surname(s), but only in combination with their own birth surnames. For example, if ''Maria Abreu Melo'' marries ''José Santos Almeida'', she could choose to become ''Maria Abreu Melo Almeida'' or ''Maria Abreu Melo Santos Almeida''.

In Brazil, a woman may adopt her husband's surname(s) in combination or not with her own. For example, when ''Maria Abreu Melo'' marries ''José Santos Almeida'', she could choose to become ''Maria Abreu Melo Almeida'', ''Maria Abreu Melo Santos Almeida'', ''Maria Santos Almeida'', ''Maria Almeida'', etc. The most common practice is for a woman to keep part of her birth name and use part of her husband's surname so as to avoid an overly long string of surnames. So, the most used combination from the above example would be ''Maria Melo Almeida''.

In 2012, a circuit of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice allowed a woman to adopt her male partner's surname while in a civil union.

Collation

When producing alphabetized lists of Portuguese names, generally the ''full name'' is used and sorted by personal names. This occurs mainly in schools or official documents, and it is usually done because many people use multiple different surname combinations in their daily life, or do not use the last surname at all. This makes it difficult to order people by the surnames they use. A typical alphabetized list may look like:

* António Borges Santos
* António Silva Abreu Melo
* Leonor Soares Henriques Pais
* Sofia Matilde Almeida Pais

However, in contexts such as a telephone directory or bibliography, the practice of using the (last) surname is preferred:

* Melo, António Silva Abreu
* Pais, Leonor Soares Henriques
* Pais, Sofia Matilde Almeida
* Santos, António Borges (or Antônio, used in Brazil)

The conjunctives and affixes preceding or following it, such as "da" and "Filho", are not used. When a full composite surname is known, it is alphabetized according to the first name even if not joined by a hyphen. In case where this is unclear, the last surname should be used. For example:

* Chagas Filho, Carlos
* Campos, Luís Pereira Siqueira
* Sousa, Luís de

As a result of these practices it is common for lists alphabetized by surnames to contain errors when dealing with Portuguese names. Additionally, Portuguese names that have been absorbed into a different culture, such as those of English or French-speakers of Portuguese descent, are generally treated according to the practice of those languages or cultures. The Portuguese-American author John Dos Passos, for example, is referred to as having the surname Dos Passos.

Nicknames

Portuguese nicknames are usually formed by inserting the diminutive infix -''inh'' or -''it'' before the final vowel in the name. For example, Teresa becomes ''Teresinha'' (meaning "little Teresa"), and Carlos becomes ''Carlinhos'' ("little Carlos"). In some cases, a nickname is formed by adding ''zinho(a)'' or ''-zito(a)'' – to the actual name. For example, João becomes ''Joãozinho'' ("little João") or Sofia becomes ''Sofiazinha'' ("little Sofia").

Augmentative suffixes may be used as well, with "Marcos" becoming "Marcão" ("Big Mark"), for example.

Other practices include the repetition of a syllable (''Nonô'' from Leonor, ''Zezé'' from José), a simple shortening of the name (''Fred'' from Frederico, ''Bea'' or ''Bia'' from Beatriz), the contraction of the name (Manel, Mané or Nelo from Manuel), or of a fraction of it (''Beto'' from Alberto or Roberto, ''Mila'' from Emília or Camila). A mix of shortening and adding a suffix may also occur (''Leco'' from Leonardo). Sometimes, a foreign-language nickname is used for the corresponding Portuguese name ("''Rick"'' for Ricardo, "Maggie" from Margarida). Most personal names have one or more standard diminutives.

Some typical Portuguese hypocoristics (the ones marked with * are almost exclusively Brazilian):

*Adriana= Drica, Adri, Didi, Didica (also applicable to the male equivalent)
*Afonso = Afonsinho
*Alexandra = Alê*, Xana (not in Brazil, where the word is a slang term for vagina), Alex, Xanda
*Alexandre = Alex, Xande, Xando, Xano, Xandinho
*Alice = Alicinha, Licinha, Cinha, Lice, Lili
*Alzira = Alzi
*Amélia = Amelinha, Melita, Mel
*Amália = Mália
*Amâncio/Amância = Mâncio
*Ana = Aninha, Aninhas, Anita, Anoca(s), Nita, Ninha, Nana
*Anabela = Bela; Belinha; Belita
*Anália = Analinha; Nália
*Antônio/António = Tó, Tonho*, Tonhão*, Toni/Tonnie, Tóne, Toninho, Tonico
*Augusto/Augusta = Guga, Guto/Guta, Tuto*, Gus* (for males)
*Aurélio/Aurélia = Relio/Relia
*Bárbara = Bá, Babá, Babi, Barbie
*Beatriz = Bia/Bea, Bibi
*Bernardo = Nanu; Benas; Bernas; Berna; Ben
*Bruna/Bruno = Bru
*Camila = Camilinha, Camilita, Mila, Miloca, Mi, Mia, Ca, Caca
*Carla = Ca, Caca, Carlinha, Carlita, Carlota
*Carlos = Carlinhos, Carlitos, Carlito, Cacá, Calu, Litos
*Carlota = Lota
*Carolina = Lininha, Lina, Carol, Cacá, Carô*
*Cecília = Cilinha, Cila, Cissa, Ceci
*Cláudia/Cláudio = Cau, Cacau (generally used to refer to female children), Dinha/Dinho, Claudinha/Claudinho
*Cristina/e ou Cristiana/e = Cris, Cristininha, Tina, Tininha
*Daiana/e = Dada, Dandinha, Dai*, Nana*
*Daniel = Dani, Dan*, Dandan*
*Daniela = Dani, Dandan*, Danizinha, Dandinha
*Diana = Didi
*Diogo = Dioguinho, Dioguito, Di, Didi, Diguinho, Digo, Diga
*Eduardo = Edu, Dudu, Dado, Du
*Eduarda = Duda, Dada, Du
*Elisabete = Bete, Beta, Lisa, Bé, Beti, Betinha
*Elvira = Elvirinha, Vira
*Emília/Emílio = Emilinha/Emilinho, Mila/Milinha, Milho* (), Miloca*, Mia*
*Eugénia/Eugénio = Geninha/Geninho
*Eugênia/Eugênio = Geninha/Geninho
*Eurico = Dico
*Fábio/Fabiano/a = Fabico, Biano*, Bibi*, Fabi, Bi*, Fá*
*Fernando = Fefa, Fernandinho, Nando, Fê*
*Fernanda = Fefa, Nanda, Nandinha, Nandita, Fê*
*Filipa/Felipa = Filipinha, Lipa, Pipa, Fifi
*Filipe/Felipe = Felipinho, Lipe, Pipo, Fili, Phil*
*Filomena = Mena, Lumena, Filó
*Francisca = Francisquinha, Chica, Chiquinha, Quica/Kika
*Francisco = Francisquinho, Chico, Chiquinho, Chiquito, Quico/Kiko, Cisco
*Frederico = Fred, Fredy/Freddie, Dico, Drico, Fré, Fu
*Gabriel = Gabi (not in Brazil, where it is a feminine nickname), Bibo (not in Brazil, where the word is a slang term for homosexual male), Biel
*Gabriela = Gabi, Gabinha, Bia*, Biela*, Bibi*
*Gonçalo (a name contemporarily not common to Brazilians) = Gonçalinho, Gonça, Gonças, Gongas, Gonzo (from English influence), Gugu, Guga, Gu
*Guilherme = Gui, Guigui, Guile*, Will*, Willy/Willie*, Guiga, Guibinha
*Gustavo = Guto, Guga, Gugu, "Gus"
*Helena/Heleno (also Elena/Eleno) = Lena/Leno, Leninha/Leninho, Leni/Lennie, Lelê (for females)
*Henrique = Rique/Rick*, Riquinho*, Ique, Quique, Quico
*Inês = Inesinha, Nê, Nenê/Nené, Nês, Nenoca, Inoca, Inocas, Inuecas, Nessa,
*Isabel/Isabela = Bela, Isabelinha, Isabelita, Belinha, Belita, Isa, Béia, Bebel*, Bebela, Beca, Bel
*Jaime = Jaiminho, Jaimito, Minho
*Joana = Joaninha, Ju, Juju, Jana, Janocas, Jô*, Juca
*João = Johnny, Joãozinho, Janjão, Jão, Juca, Joca, Janocas, Bão, Janeca, Jone, Jonh, Jójo
*Joaquim = Quim, Joca, Jaquim, Quinzinho, Quincas
*Jorge = Jorginho, Jó, Joca, Djódi*
*José = Zé, Zezé, Zeca, Zezinho, Jô, Joe
*Júlia = Ju, Julinha, Juju
*Juliana = Ju, Juju, Juli
*Laura/Lauro = Laurinha/Laurinho, Lala (for females), Lalá
*Leonardo = Léo, Leozinho, Leco*
*Leonor = Nonô, Nô, Léo
*Letícia = Lê, Leti, Ticia
*Lídia = Lídi, Li, Dida
*Lígia = Lili, Lica
*Liliana = Lili, Lilas, Liana*, Lana*
*Lorena = Lora, Ló, Loló
*Lúcia = Lucinha, Luci, Lu
*Luís/Luísa = Lu, Luisinho/Luisinha, Luisito/Luisita, Lula*, Lulu; many combinations with Lu and hypocoristics of other names are possibly because Luís is a common first name in Lusophone countries
*Lurdes/Lourdes = Lu, Lou, Ludi*
*Madalena/Magdalena = Lena, Madá, Mady/Madie/Maddie
*Magda = Magdinha, Maguinha
*Manuel = Manelinho, Manelocas, Manel, Mané, Maneco, Neco*, Manu (not in Brazil, where it is a feminine nickname), Nelo, Nelito, Nelinho
*Manuela = Manela, Manu, Nela, Nelita, Manocas,
*Marcelo = Celo, Shelo/Chelo, Tchelo, Celim
*Marcos/Marco = Marcão, Marquinhos, Marquito, Caco*
*Margarida = Margaridinha, Guida, Guidinha, Maggie
*Maria = Bia, Mariazinha, Maricota, Cota, Cotinha, Micas, Mia, Mimi, Mary
*Mária/Mário = Marinho/Marinha, Maruca, Má*
*Mariana = Marianinha, Marianita, Nita, Mari, Má*
*Marlene = Leni, Mary
*Marnia = Marni, Marnie
*Marta = Martinha, Tata*, Má*
*Micael = Micas/Mikas, Mica/Mika
*Miguel = Miguelinho, Miguelito, Micas, Mike, Mígui
*Nélson = Nelo, Nelinho, Nelito
*Nicola/Nicolau/Nicholas = Nico/Niko/Nica, Niquito/Niquita, Lalá (for both genders), Lalau (not in Brazil, where the word is a slang term for thief)
*Nuno = Nuninho, Nunito
*Octávio/Otávio = Távio, Tavinho
*Osvaldo = Vado, Vadinho, Valdinho, Vavá, Ósvi, Valdo
*Patrícia = Pati/Paty/Páti/Patie, Pátri, Pat, Ticha/Tixa, Tiça
*Paula/Paulo = Paulinho/Paulinha, Pauleta
*Pedro = Pedrinho, Pedrito, Pepê, Pedrocas, Peu (particularly in Bahia)
*Rafael = Rafa, Rafe, Fael
*Rafaela = Rafa, Rafinha
*Renata/Renato = Rê*, Renatinha/Renatinho, Nata/Nato*
*Ricardo = Cado, Cadinho, Ricardinho, Rico, Rick
*Rita = Ritinha, Ri
*Roberto = Betinho, Berto, Beto, Tinho*
*Rodolfo = Rô*, Rodas
*Rodrigo = Digo, Diguinho, Rúdri, Rody, Rud/Rudy
*Rosa = Ró, Rosinha, Rose*
*Rui = Ruca, Ruizinho
*Salvador = Sássá, Salva, Salvas, Sal
*Sara = Sarinha, Sarocas
*Sebastião = Sebastiãozinho, Bastião, Tião, Tão, Babá*, Sebas, Sebasti
*Sofia = Pipia, Sofi, Fi*, Sô*
*Susana = Susaninha, Su, Suse, Susy/Suzy
*Teresa = Teresinha, Té, Teté/Tetê
*Tiago = Tiaguinho, Ti, Guinho*
*Tomé = Tomézinho
*Vera = Verinha, Veroca, Verusca, Verita
*Victor/Vítor = Tó, Vitinho, Vic
*Victória/Vitória = Vivi, Vicky
*Y/Iolanda = Yoyô, Ioiô, Landa

Other hypocoristics are associated with common two name combinations:

*Cadu (Carlos Eduardo)
*Caíque (Carlos Henrique)
*Cajó (Carlos Jorge)
*Gal (Maria da Graça)
*Joca/Juca (João Carlos)
*Jomi (João Miguel)

*Malu/Milú (Maria Luísa, Maria de Lurdes, Maria Lúcia)
*Maricota (Maria da Conceição)
*Mazé, Mizé (Maria José)
*Maju (Maria Júlia)
*Miju (Maria de Jesus)
*Mitó (Maria Antónia)

*Tó-Jó (António Jorge)
*Tó-Pê (António Pedro)
*Tozé (António José)
*Zeca (José Carlos)
*Zeza (Maria José)
*Zezé (Maria José)

A hypocoristics can receive the suffix -inho/-inha (meaning "little") giving a more intense feeling of protection or intimacy, such as Chiquinho (from Chico, the hypocoristics for Francisco), Xandinho (from Xando, for Alexandre), Zequinha (form Zeca, for José).

Brazilian-specific patterns

Children of immigrants

In Brazil, recent immigrants – especially Italians, Germans, Jews and Japanese – usually give their sons only the father's family surname. Although there is no legal restriction on this practice, assimilation usually leads to a shift toward a Portuguese pattern in succeeding generations.

Today one can find people who use two Italian surnames (like ''"Gardi Bianchini''") or two Japanese surnames (like ''"Sugahara Uemura"''), a practice that was unusual in 20th century Italy and is nonexistent in Japan. Having two surnames from different non-Portuguese origin is also not uncommon, such as the Brazilian celebrity Sabrina Sato Rahal, of Japanese and Swiss-Lebanese descent. Particularly common are German-Italian combinations (Becker Bianchini, for instance), especially in Rio Grande do Sul.

The Spanish pattern is in many ways similar, but the father's surname usually precedes the mother's, unlike Portuguese usage. Almost all of the first Spanish-Brazilian born generation were named in order of the family surnames of the Portuguese pattern.

São Paulo State area

A specific pattern developed among the descendants of 20th-century immigrants: they use only their father's surname and two personal names, the first is a Portuguese personal name and the second one is a personal name from their father's original country.

This pattern is most used among Japanese and Syrian- Lebanese immigrants sons and grandsons. So one can find names like ''" Paulo Salim Maluf"'' where ''Paulo'' is a Portuguese personal name, ''Salim'' is an Arabic personal name, and ''Maluf'' is his father's surname; or ''"Maria Heiko Sugahara"'' where ''Maria'' is a Portuguese personal name, ''Heiko'' a Japanese personal name and ''Sugahara'' is her father's surname. This practice allows the person to be recognized as ''"Paulo Maluf''" or ''"Maria Sugahara"'' in the large Brazilian society, and as ''"Salim Maluf"'' or ''"Heiko Sugahara"'' in their immigrant social community.

This pattern used to be quite common in São Paulo. Intermarriage has reduced this practice, but it is still commonly used when both parents belong to the same ethnic group. Younger generations tend to use both the father's and the mother's family name, thus giving four names to their children (like ''"Paulo Salim Lutfalla Maluf"'' or ''"Maria Heiko Sugahara Uemura"'').

Origin of Portuguese surnames

Before Romans entered the territory of present-day Portugal, the native people identified themselves by a single name, or that name followed by a patronym. The names could be Celtic (Mantaus), Lusitanian (Casae), Iberian (Sunua) or Conii (Alainus). The names were clearly ethnic and some typical of a tribe or region. A slow adoption of the Roman onomastic occurred after the end of the first century AD, with the adoption of a Roman name or of the tria nomina: praenomen (given name), nomen (gentile) and cognomen.

Most Portuguese surnames have a patronymical, locative or religious origin.

Surnames originating from patronymics

Patronymics are names derived from the father's personal name that, many centuries ago, began to be used as surnames. They are a common form of surnames in the lands where Portuguese is spoken and also have developed in many other languages.

In Portuguese, patronymics are surnames such as '' Henriques'', ''Pires'', ''Rodrigues'', '' Lopes'', '' Nunes'', ''Mendes'', '' Fernandes'', ''Gonçalves'', '' Esteves'' and ''Álvares,'' where the ending -es means (''son of'').

Some surnames that originated in this way do not end in ''es''; instead they end in ''iz'', like ''Muniz'' (''son of Monio'') and Ruiz (''son of Ruy''), or ''ins'', like ''Martins'' (''son of Martim'').

Although most Portuguese surnames ending in ''-es'' are former patronymics, some family names with -es- endings are not patronymics, but toponymics, such as Tavares, Cortês and Chaves.

Some surnames are equal to personal names, such as ''Joana Fernando'', or ''André João'', in which "Fernando" and "João" are surnames. It is rather improbable that those are patronymics; more likely they originated with people with no surnames, who were given two names for the sake of enhanced individuality. One can find today in Portugal and Brazil people who still use surnames that for other people are just personal names, although they were passed from parents to sons for generations, such as Valentim, Alexandre, Fernando, Afonso (note the family name ''de Melo Afonso'') and Antonio (note ''de Melo Antonio''). Names like ''Dinis'', ''Duarte'', ''Garcia'' and ''Godinho'' were originally personal names, but today they are used in Brazil almost exclusively as surnames, although Duarte and Dinis are still common personal names in Portugal.

Matronymics (surnames derived from female personal names) are not used in Portuguese. Surnames such as "Catarino" (from Catarina) and "Mariano" (meaning related to ''Maria'') are rather references to Catholic saints (probably originating with the practice of giving a child the name of the saint of the day in which he or she was born).

Some former patronymics are not easily recognized, for two main reasons. Sometimes the personal name that was the basis of the patronymic became archaic, such as ''Lopo'' (the basis of ''Lopes''), ''Mendo'' or ''Mem'' (''Mendes''), Soeiro (''Soares''), Munio (''Muniz''), ''Sancho'' (''Sanches''). Also, often the personal names or the related patronymic changed through centuries, although always some resemblance can still be noted – such as ''Antunes'' (son of ''Antão'' or ''Antonio''), ''Peres'' (son of ''Pero'', archaic form of ''Pedro''), ''Alves'' (from ''Álvares'', son of ''Álvaro''), and ''Eanes'' (from mediaeval Iohannes, son of ''João'').

Locative surnames

A large number of surnames are locative, related to the geographical origin of a person, such as the name of a village, town, city, land, river. Such surnames like ''Almeida'', ''Andrada'' or ''Andrade'', '' Barcelos'', ''Barros'', ''Bastos'', ''Braga'', '' Beira ''(edge), '' Castelo Branco'', ''Cintra'' (from Sintra), ''Coimbra'', ''Faria'', '' Gouveia'', ''Guimarães'', ''Lima'' (the name of a river, not meaning lime), ''Lisboa'' (Lisbon), ''Maia'', '' Mascarenhas'' (a civil parish of Mirandela, Portugal), ''Pacheco'' (from village of Pacheca), ''Porto'', ''Portugal'', ''Serpa'', ''Leão'' (from León).

Some names specify a location of the family's house within the village: ''Fonte'' (by the fountain), ''Fontoira/Fontoura'' (golden fountain), ''Azenha'' (by the water-mill), ''Eira'' (by the threshing-floor), ''Tanque'' (by the community cistern), ''Fundo'' (on the lower part of the village), ''Cimo/Cima'' (on the upper part of the village), ''Cabo'' (on the far end of the village), ''Cabral'' (near the field where the goats graze). In some cases, the family name may not be a locative, but an indication of ownership.

Surnames were also derived from geological or geographical forms, such as ''Pedroso'' (stony or full of pebbles land), ''Rocha'' (rock), ''Souza''/''Sousa'' (from Latin saxa, a place with seixos, or pebbles), ''Vale'' (valley, dale), ''Bierzo'' (mountain), ''Ribeiro''/''Rivero'' (little river, creek, brook), ''Siqueira''/''Sequeira'' (a non-irrigated land), ''Castro'' (ruins of ancient buildings, equivalent to English Chester), ''Dantas'' (from d'Antas, a place with antas, i.e. prehistoric stone monuments or dolmens), ''Costa'' (coast), ''Pedreira'' (quarry), ''Barreira'' (clay quarry), ''Couto'' (fenced site), ''Outeiro'' (hill or hillock),''Vilar/Villar'' (from Latin "villagio", a village), ''Seixas'' (pebbles), ''Veiga''/''Vega'' (banks of a river), ''Córdoba/Córdova'' (hill near the river), ''Padrão'' (rock or stone), ''Celanova'' (barn or reservoir).

Names of trees or plantations are also locative surnames, originally related to identifying a person who lived near or inside a plantation, an orchard or a place with a characteristic kind of vegetation. Names such as ''Silva'' and ''Matos'' (woods, forest), ''Campos'' (meadows), ''Teixeira'' (a place covered with yew trees), ''Queirós'' (a kind of grass), ''Cardoso'' (a place covered with ''cardos'', i.e. with cardoons or thistles), ''Correia'' (a place covered with ''corriolas'' or ''correas'', a kind of plant), ''Macedo'' (an apple tree garden), ''Azevedo'' (a forest of azevinho, a holly wood), ''Amaral'' (a plantation of ''amara'', a bitter grape used to make wine), and ''Arruda'' (a place with large amounts of Rue, an ornamental plant and herb), fit this pattern.

Tree names are very common locative surnames – '' Oliveira''/''Olivera'' (olive tree), ''Carvalho'' (oak tree), ''Servia'' (from ''serba'', i.e. a sort of sorbus or serbal tree), ''Pinheiro'' (pine tree), '' Pereira/ Pereyra'' (pear tree), Pêro/Pero (wild apple tree), '' Pereiro''/''Do Pereyro'' (apple tree), ''Aciveiro'' ( holly tree), ''Moreira'' (mulberry tree), ''Macedo''/''Macieira'' (apple tree), ''Filgueira''/''Figueira'' (fern tree or cyatheales), ''Loureiro''/''Laureiro'' ( laurel tree), ''Parreira'' (grape tree). There is the case of ''Pereira''/''Pereyra'' which is not only a tree. In the old documentations of the Portuguese language also appears as a variant of Pedreira or Pedreiro and this means "stone quarry" or mason.

Religious surnames

Surnames with religious meanings or connotations are common. It is possible that some of these originated from an ancestor who converted to Catholicism and intended or needed to demonstrate his new faith. Another possible source of religious names were orphans who were abandoned in the churches and raised in Catholic orphanages by priests and nuns. They were usually baptized with a name related to the date near when they were found or baptized. Another possible source is when religious personal names (expressing a special devotion by the parents or the god-parents, or the child's birth date) were adopted as family names.

Religious names includes ''de Jesus'' (of Jesus), '' dos Reis'' (of the kings, from the day of the Epiphany of the Lord, the Day of the Wise Kings), ''Ramos'' (branches, from Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter), ''Pascoal'' (of Easter), ''da Assunção'' (of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary), ''do Nascimento'' (of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary or the Nativity of Jesus – Christmas), ''da Visitação'' (of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary), ''da Anunciação'' (of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary), ''da Conceição'' (of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary), ''Trindade'' (from Trinity Sunday), ''do Espírito Santo'' (of the Holy Ghost, from the Feast of the Holy Ghost), ''das Chagas'' (of wounds, from the Feast of the Five Wounds of Christ), ''Graça'' (grace, from Our Lady of Grace), ''Patrocínio'' (patronage, from Our Lady of Patronage), ''Paz'' (peace, from Our Lady Mediatrix of Peace), ''Luz'' (light, from Our Lady of the Divine Light), ''Neves'' (snows, from Our Lady of the Snows), ''Penha'' (cliff, bluff, from Our Lady of the Bluff of France, that in Spanish is called Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia), ''das Dores'' (of sorrows, from Our Lady of Sorrows), ''Bonfim'' (good end, from Our Lord of Good Death), ''das Virgens'' (of the virgins martyrs), ''dos Anjos'' (of angels, from the Archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel day), ''São João'' (Saint John), ''Santana'' (Saint Ann), ''Santos'' (from 'Todos os Santos', i.e. from All Hallows or All Saints day; ''Santos'' comes from the Latin ''sanctus'', which also originated other variants, such as ''Sanctius'', ''Santious'', ''Sancti'', ''Santis'', ''Santi'', ''Sante'' or ''Santé'', ''Santiz'', ''Santiso'' or ''Santizo'' and ''Santotis'') and ''Cruz'' (Cross, the most common surname among the Belmonte Jews).

An orphan with unknown parents or a converted (Jew, African slave, or Native Brazilian) person was frequently baptized with the name of a saint, such as ''João Baptista'' (from Saint John the Baptist), ''João Evangelista'' (from Saint John the Evangelist), ''João de Deus'' (from Saint John of God), ''António de Pádua'' (from Saint Anthony of Padova), ''João Nepomuceno'' (from Saint John of Nepomuk), ''Francisco de Assis (''from Saint Francis of Assisi), ''Francisco de Paula'' (from Saint Francis of Paola), ''Francisco de Salles'' (from Saint Francis de Salles), ''Inácio de Loiola'' (from Saint Ignatius of Loyola), ''Tomás Aquino'' (from Saint Thomas Aquinas), ''José de Calazans'' (from Saint Joseph of Calasanz), or ''José de Cupertino'' (from Saint Joseph of Cupertino). After that, they usually passed only the second personal name (''Batista, Evangelista, de Deus, Pádua, Nepomuceno, Assis, de Paula, Sales, Loiola, Aquino, Calazans'' or ''Cupertino'') to their sons as a surname.

A surname such as ''Xavier'' could have originated from someone baptized after Saint Francis Xavier or from the old Portuguese family ''Xavier''.

Descriptive surnames

Some surnames are possible descriptions of a peculiar characteristic of an ancestor, originating from nicknames.

These include names like ''Veloso'' (wooly or hairy), ''Vergueiro'' (one that bends), ''Medrado'' (grown-up), ''Porciúncula'' (small part, small piece), ''Magro'' (thin), ''Magriço'' (skinny), ''Gago'' (stutterer, stammerer), ''Galhardo'' (gallant, chivalrous), ''Terrível'' (terrible), ''Penteado'' (hairdressing, the nickname of a branch of the German Werneck family whose members used to wear wigs), ''Romeiro'' (a pilgrim) ''Verdugo/Berdugo'' ("Tree branch" or 'Executioner").

Profession and occupation surnames

Portuguese surnames that originated from professions or occupations are few, such as ''Serrador'' (sawman), ''Monteiro'' (hunter of the hills or woods guard), ''Guerreiro'' (warrior), ''Caldeira'' (cauldron, i.e. cauldron maker), ''Cubas'' (wooden barrels, i.e., barrel maker or cooper), ''Carneiro'' (sheep, for a shepherd), ''Peixe'' (fish, for a fisherman or a fishmonger).

Foreign-origin surnames

Some Portuguese names originated from foreigners who came to live in Portugal or Brazil many centuries ago. They are so ancient that, despite their known foreign origin, they are an integrated part of Portuguese and Brazilian cultures.

Most of these names are Spanish, such as ''Toledo'' (a city in Spain), ''Ávila'' or ''Dávila'' (a city in Spain) and ''Padilha''. Other common "foreign" surnames are Bettencourt or Bittencourt (from Béthencourt, French), ''Goulart, Goulard'' or ''Gullar'' (French, original meaning is glutton), ''Fontenele'' or ''Fontenelle'' (French, from fountain), ''Rubim'' (from Robin, French), ''Alencastro'', ''Lencastre'' (from Lancaster, English), ''Drummond'' (Scottish), ''Werneck, Vernek'' or ''Berneque'' (southern German, the name of the Bavarian city Werneck), ''Wanderley'' (from ''van der Ley'', Flemish), ''Dutra'' (from ''De Ultra'', a Latin name meaning "from beyond" assumed by the Flemish family ''Van Hurtere''), ''Brum'' (from ''Bruyn'', Flemish), Bulcão (from ''Bulcamp'', Flemish), ''Dulmo'' (from ''van Olm'', Flemish), ''Acioli'' (Italian), ''Doria'' (Italian), ''Cavalcanti'' (Italian), ''Netto'' or ''Neto'' (Italian, not to be confused with the name suffix "Neto" ("grandson") that is used in Portuguese to distinguish a grandson and grandfather who bear the same names).

The question of Portuguese Jewish surnames

It is a popular belief that the Jews living in Portugal up to 1497, when they were forced to choose between conversion or expulsion, substituted their surnames with the names of trees that do not bear edible fruits, such as ''Carvalho'' (oak tree) and ''Junqueira'' (reed, bulrush, junk). Others say that they usually chose animal ''Leão'' (Lion); plant/vegetable ''Pimentel'' (pepper); fruit such as '' Figo'' (fig) and ''Moreira'' (berry); and tree names such as ''Pereira'' (pear tree) or ''Oliveira'' (olive tree), in this case trees that bear edible fruits. However, even these names were already used by Christians during the Middle Ages; these surnames were mostly used by the converted Jews (''conversos'', new Christians) during the time the Inquisition existed. Be that as it may, many of these surnames already belonged to members of Portugal's ancient Jewish population, which experts believe likely numbered around twenty-thousand. Many of the Sephardic Jews of Portugal simply transliterated the spellings of the names they already possessed, to align more closely with the Christian Portuguese surnames that were already commonly used in Portugal.This was done to deflect any suspicion that they were Jews. One good example is the Jewish tribe name Menasseh, which was transliterated and became the Portuguese surname "Meneses". Many Jewish names were modified in this fashion, and in time, they became bonafide Portuguese Christian surnames. Thus, by adopting these kinds of names of Jewish origin that became accepted Portuguese surnames, meant that in a very real sense, the Portuguese Jews actually ended up adopting surnames that were originally theirs to begin with.

Another family name usually pointed out as denoting Jewish ancestry is ''Espírito Santo'' (Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost) and Verdugo/Berdugo (Branch of a Tree / Executioner). The rationale is that Jews would adopt as a family name an (apparently) Christian concept as a deception. In fact, they were choosing the most incorporeal Trinity person, that is, the one that offended least their (secret) Jewish faith. This theory is not totally unfounded, as there is evidence that the cult around the Holy Spirit flourished after 1496, especially among New Christians. This does not rule out that "Espírito Santo" was also adopted by faithful Christians, following the rationale of other religious surnames.

The Portuguese Jews living in Portugal up to 1497 bore personal names that could distinguish them from the Christian population. Most of these names are Portuguese versions of older Semitic (Arabian, Hebrew, Aramaic) names like ''Abenazo, Abencobra, Aboab, Abravanel, Albarrux, Azenha, Benafull, Benafaçom, Benazo, Caçez, Cachado, Çaçom/Saçom, Carraf, Carilho, Cide/Cid, Çoleima, Faquim, Faracho, Faravom, Fayham/Fayam, Focem, Çacam/Sacam, Famiz, Gadim, Gedelha, Labymda, Latam/Latão, Loquem, Lozora, Maalom, Maçon, Maconde, Mocatel, Mollaão, Montam, Motaal, Rondim, Rosall, Samaia/Çamaya, Sanamel, Saraya, Tarraz, Tavy/Tovy, Toby, Varmar, Verdugo/Berdugo, Zaaboca, Zabocas, Zaquim, Zaquem''. Some were locative names, not necessarily specific to Jewish populations, like ''Catelaão/Catalão'' (Catalan), ''Castelão/Castelhão'' (Castilian), ''Crescente'' (crescent, from Turkey), ''Medina'' (from Medina), ''Romano'', ''Romão'', ''Romeiro'' (Roman), ''Tolledam''/''Toledano'' (from Toledo), ''Vallency'' (from Valencia) and ''Vascos'' (Basque); some were patronymics from Biblical names like ''Abraão'' (Abraham), ''Lázaro'' (Lazarus), ''Barnabé'' (Barnabas), ''Benjamim'' (Benjamin), ''Gabril'' (Gabriel)'', ''Muça'' (Moses)'', and ''Natam'' (Nathan); some are profession names such as ''Caldeirão'' (cauldron), ''Martelo'' (hammer), ''Pexeiro'' (fishmonger), ''Chaveirol'' (locksmith), and ''Prateiro'' (silversmith); some are nicknames such as ''Calvo'' (bald), ''Dourado'' (golden), ''Ruivo'' (red-headed), ''Crespo'' (curly), ''Querido'' (beloved) and ''Parente'' (family relative). A few names are not distinct from old Portuguese surnames, such as ''Camarinha, Castro, Crespim''.Manuel Abranches de Soveral, in «Subsídios para o estudo genealógico dos judeus e cristãos-novos e a sua relação com as famílias portuguesas»
/ref>

Some scholars proved that the converted Portuguese Jews usually chose a patronymic as their new surname and, when the conversion was not forced, they would choose to bear the surname of their godfather.

The Jewish-Portuguese community that flourished in the Netherlands and Hamburg, Germany, after their expulsion from Portugal used surnames such as ''Camargo, Costa, Fonseca, Pimentel, Dias, Pinto'', and ''Silveira''.

Some of the most famous descendants of Portuguese Jews who lived outside Portugal are the philosopher Baruch Spinoza (in Portugal ''Bento de Espinosa''), the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and the classical economist David Ricardo. Other famous members of the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam bore names such as Uriel da Costa (''Uriel Acosta''), Abraham Pimentel, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, Isaac de Pinto and Menasseh ben Israel (whose original surname was ''Soeiro'').

The Belmonte Jews (crypto-Jews from the Belmonte region in Portugal) also bear surnames that cannot be used to distinguish them from the older Catholic Portuguese families. Using tree names as surnames was not a common practice among converted or non-converted Portuguese Jews, before or after their expulsion in 1497.

Frequency

Most common surnames in Portugal and Brazil

These are some most frequent surnames in Portugal:

According to a large scale study of names extracted from various social networking websites, the most common surnames in Brazil are:

Most common names in Portugal and Brazil

According to the newspaper '' Público'', the most common personal names in Portugal, for 105,000 children born in 2008 were:

According to the IBGE the most common personal names in Brazil in 2010 were:

According to th
Certidão de Nascimento
Website, the top 10 most common personal names in Brazil in 2014 were:

Brazilian names

Brazilian surnames

Giving Portuguese surnames to Afro-Brazilians and native Brazilians

Until abolition of slavery, slaves did not have surnames, only personal names. They were even forbidden to use their distinct African or Native Brazilian names and were christened with a Portuguese personal name. While slavery persisted, slaves needed to have distinct names only within the plantation (''fazenda'' or ''engenho'') to which they belonged.

It was a common practice to name free slaves after their former owners, so all their descendants have the Portuguese surnames of their former owner.

Indigenous people who were not slaves also chose to use their godparents' surnames as their own.

Religious names are also more common among people with African or native Brazilian ancestors than among people with only European ancestors. A slave who had just a personal name like ''Francisco de Assis'' (from Saint Francis of Assisi) could use the partial name ''de Assis'' as a surname, since the connective – ''de'' – gives the appearance of surname.

The practice of naming Afro-Brazilians with religious surnames was proved even by some indirect approaches. Medical researchers demonstrated that there is a statistical correlation between a religious name and genetic diseases related to African ancestry such as the sickle-cell disease. Due to miscegenation, the correlation exists even among white people that have religious surnames.

It was also common to name indigenous people and freed slaves with surnames which were already very common such as ''Silva'' or ''Costa''. That is why ''Silva'' is the most common surname in Brazil.

Surnames originated from Native Brazilian words

In the years following Brazil's independence, some old Brazilians families changed their surnames to surnames derived from Tupian languages as a patriotic way to emphasize the new Fatherland. Some of these names are still spelled with Portuguese old orthography, but some are spelled according to the new rules. These names, following the old orthography, include:

* Native Brazilian nations or tribes: '' Tupinambá, Tabajara, Carijó, Goytacaz, Guarany, Tamoyo'' (the name of a confederation of many tribes that fought the first Portuguese settlers);
* Brazilian trees: '' Jatobá'', ''Mangabeira'' (mangaba tree), ''Pitangui'' ( pitanga tree), ''Sarahyba'', ''Palmeira'' (palm tree), ''Goiabeira'' (guava tree);
* Typical Brazilian fruits: '' Pitanga, Muricy, Guaraná'' (a Brazilian family with Dutch ancestors changed their surname from ''Van Ness'' to ''Guaraná'');
* Famous Native Brazilian chiefs: ''Cayubi'', ''Tibiriçá'', ''Paraguaçu'' (big river, sea, in Tupian language), ''Piragibe'' (fish's arm, in Tupian language).

Due to emigration, nowadays one can find these surnames even in Portugal.

Brazilian locative surnames

Some Brazilian surnames, like some old Portuguese surnames, are locative surnames that denote the original place where the ancestor who first used it was born or lived. Like surnames that originated from words, this practice started during the patriotic years that followed Brazil's Independence.

These are surnames like ''Brasil'' (Brazil), ''Brasiliense'' (Brazilian), ''Brasileiro'' (also Brazilian), ''América'', ''Americano'' (American), ''Bahiense'' (from Bahia city, today called Salvador), ''Cearense'' (from Ceará State) and ''Maranhão'' (from Maranhão State)

Some of these are toponyms derived from Tupian languages such as:

* Brazilian rivers: '' Capibaribe'' ( Capibaras' river in Tupian language), ''Parahyba'' (from Paraíba do Sul river, not related to the northern Paraíba river, Paraíba State, or Paraíba city, today called João Pessoa);
* Brazilian places: ''Pirassununga'' (snoring fish, in Tupian language), ''Piratininga'' (dried fish, in Tupian language), ''Carioca'' (from Rio de Janeiro city, originally meant ''white man house'' in Tupian language).

Due to immigration, nowadays one can find these surnames even in Portugal.

Some locative surnames derived indirectly as the result of its incorporation by the family after the Imperial nobility title of an ancestor. During the times of Emperor Pedro II, non-hereditary nobilities titles would be granted to notable persons, generally statesmen. The title (but no lordship) would be granted and named after a location, as in Europe, generally owned by the notable. At their death, the family in order to maintain the reference to the title would adopt them, to the point that many Brazilians still believe these are hereditary.

Thus surnames like:
Rio Branco (from Barão de Rio Branco, i.e., José Maria da Silva Paranhos), Jaguaribe (from Barão de Jaguaribe), Ouro Preto (from Visconde de Ouro Preto), Paranaguá (from the various Marqueses de Paranaguá as the title would be granted to more than one notable), Araripe (Barão de Araripe), Suassuna (Barão de Suassuna), etc...

Non-Portuguese surnames in Brazil

Despite the lesser variation in Portuguese surnames, immigration from other countries (mainly from Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, the United Kingdom, Syria, Lebanon, Japan, United States and more recently China, Korea, Africa, Hispanic America and Haiti) increased the diversity of surnames in Brazil. Notwithstanding, the vast majority of Brazilian surnames are of Portuguese origin, due to the fact that it was the Portuguese who colonized Brazil.

Some foreign surnames were misspelled after many generations and today cannot be recognized in their original country (the French-Swiss family name ''Magnan'' changed to ''Manhães'' after some decades). Some misspelled foreign surnames are hardly recognized by speakers of the original language such as '' Collor'' (from German ''Köhler''), ''Chamareli'' (from Italian ''Sciammarelli'') and ''Branquini'' (from Italian ''Bianchini''). Sometimes, different rules of romanization were applied to Japanese and Arabic names (like ''Nacamura'' and ''Nakamura'', ''Yamaguchi'' and ''Iamaguti'', ''Sabag'' and ''Sappak'', ''Bukhalil'' and ''Bucalil'').

Thus there are extensively adapted or misspelled foreign surnames used by Brazilian descendants of non-Portuguese immigrants. Due to emigration, nowadays one can find these misspelled surnames even in their original country.

Immigrants' surnames

Although not so widely used as in the United States, immigrants used to change their surname to show assimilation or to avoid social discrimination in Brazil.

This practice was most used during World War II by Italian immigrants because Italy was an enemy country for a few years. As Italians are Catholics and were easily assimilated in the larger Brazilian society, the practice was not perceived and almost forgotten after a single generation.

The new Portuguese surname was generally chosen based on the original meaning of the foreign surname (''Olivetto'', ''Olivetti'' or ''Oliva'' sometimes changed to ''Oliveira''). Sometimes the new surname had only a phonetic resemblance with the foreign one (the Italian surnames ''Livieiro'' and ''Salviani'' sometimes were changed to ''Oliveira'' and '' Silva''.

Respectful treatment using hypocoristics

In Brazil, until the first half of the 20th century, very important people could be called in a very respectful – but not formal – way using a social or military title and a childish hypocoristics of their personal name, such as ''"Coronel Tonico"'' (Colonel Tony), ''"Comendador Paulinho"'' (Commander Little Paul), ''"Dona Chica"'' (Lady Little Frances"), ''Sinhá Mariquinha'' (Mrs. Little Mary, ''sinhá'' is a popular pronunciation of senhora, i.e. Mrs.). Although an American president could be called ''Bill'' (Clinton) or ''Jimmy'' (Carter) by the press, this practice was used in Brazil as a much more respectful treatment and never in a formal way.

Some sociologists have suggested that members of the Brazilian upper classes were often raised by slave women who called them using a hypocoristics, and that childish name continued to be used, but in a respectful way, when they grew up.

Today, this practice is not so widespread, but one can find people informally, but respectfully, called ''"Seu Zé"'' (Mr Joe, ''Seu'' is a short Mister) or ''"Dona Ritinha"'' (Lady Little Rita).

Adding personal names to surnames

In Brazil, descendants of famous people sometimes use a surname composed of both the personal name and the surname of their ancestor, like the ''Ruy Barbosa'', ''Vital Brazil'', , '' Rubens Paiva'', '' Lula da Silva'' and '' Lafayette Rodrigues'' families. Such practice allows them to be easily recognised by other people as descendants of their famous ancestor. Such a pattern is rare.

Personal names

Personal names of foreign origin

In Portugal, newborn children can only be named from a list of personal names permitted by Civil Law. Names are required to be spelt according to the rules of Portuguese orthography and to be a part of Portuguese-language onomastic (traditionally names in Portugal were based on the calendar of saints). Thus in Portugal the personal names show little variation, as traditional names are favoured over modern ones. Examples of popular Portuguese names are ''António, João, José, Francisco, Pedro or Manuel'' (for men) and ''Maria, Ana, Isabel, Teresa or Joana'' (for women). In recent decades there has been a popularity rise for ancient historical names such as ''Gonçalo, Bernardo, Vasco, Afonso, Leonor, Catarina or Beatriz''. If one of the parents is not Portuguese or has double citizenship, foreign names are allowed, as long as the parents present a document proving the requested name is allowed in their country of origin. In the past, immigrant children who were born abroad were required to adopt a Portuguese name in order to become Portuguese citizens – an example is tennis player Michelle de Brito, whose legal name is ''Micaela''. This practice no longer applies.

In Brazil, there is no legal restriction on naming a newborn child, unless the personal name has a meaning that can humiliate or embarrass those who bear it.

Brazilians living far from the big cities or lower-class people are prone to create new personal names, joining the names of the parents or classical names, changing the spelling of foreign names or even using foreign suffixes that – they may believe – give a sophisticated or modern sound to the new name (e.g. Maurren – from Maureen -, Deivid – from David, Robisson).

Foreign surnames are also widely used as personal names such as ''Wagner, Mozart, Donizetti, Lamartine, Danton, Anderson, Emerson, Edison, Franklin, Nelson, Wilson, Washington, Jefferson, Jensen, Kennedy, Lenin, Newton, Nobel'', ''Rosenberg'', ''Alextricia'' (combination of ''Alexander'' and ''Patricia'') and ''Ocirema'' (''Americo'' in reverse). Originally these names showed the political, artistic or scientific admiration of the parents who first used them to name their sons. (See also Spelling section of this article).

Personal names originating from Native Brazilian names

During the reign of the second Emperor, Dom Pedro II, the Native Brazilian was used as the symbol of the Empire. At this time, Brazilian people started to use Native Brazilian names as personal names. Some are among the most popular until nowadays.

These are names like ''Araci, Caubi, Guaraci, Iara, Iberê, Ioná, Jaci, Janaína, Jandira, Juçara, Juraci, Jurema, Maiara, Moacir, Moema, Ubiratã, Ceci, Iracema, Peri'' and ''Ubirajara'' (the last four taken from José de Alencar's works).

Recently, Brazilians have started to use other personal names of Native Brazilian origin like ''Rudá'' (love, after Rudá, god of love in Tupi-Guarani mythology), ''Cauã'' and ''Cauê'' (hawk), although their use connotes the hippie culture.

Indexing

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, Portuguese and Lusophone names are indexed by the final element of the name, and this practice differs from the indexing of Spanish and Hispanophone names. The male lineage (paternal grandfather's) surname is still the one indexed for both Spanish and Portuguese names.Indexes: A Chapter from The Chicago Manual of Style

Archive
. Chicago Manual of Style. Retrieved on 23 December 2014. p. 27 (PDF document p. 29/56).

See also

* Portuguese alphabet
* Nogueira Ferrão
* Spanish naming customs

Notes

External links

Direcção Geral de Registos e Notariados – Nomes admitidos
– List of first names admitted by law (Portugal)
*

NampediA Blog – Rhythm of Renewal in Brazilian Names
– article about Brazilian names

Portugal and Czech popular surnames

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portuguese Name
Names by country
Name, Portuguese