Portuguese name

Prepositions that can be used in Portuguese surnames are da, das, do, dos and de, such as in Maria da Cunha, José das Neves, Joana do Rosário, Luís dos Santos, Gabriela de Sousa, etc. and mean "from" or "of." Da, dos, etc. are contractions of the preposition de and a definite article (o, as, etc.), meaning "from the" or "of the." The current convention in Portuguese is that they be written in lower case . Different from in Italian surnames, these conjunctives are usually not part of a composite name, i.e., "Sousa" is not different from "de Sousa," and 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; in this case the person should be addressed as "Ms. Costa e Silva", and not as Ms. Silva.

The most well-known exception to this norm is 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 the appropriate Mr. Silva, while he is mostly called Lula in Portuguese-speaking media.

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, the pattern in succeeding generations changes to the traditional Portuguese pattern, usually because of assimilation.

Today one can find people who use two Italian surnames (like "Gardi Bianchini") or two Japanese surnames (like "Sugahara Uemura"), a practice that is unusual in Italy and nonexistent in Japan. Having two surnames from different non-Portuguese origin is also not uncommon, such as the Brazilian celebrity "Sabrina Sato Rahal", a Japanese and an Arab surname, respectively. 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.

A specific pattern developed among the descendants of 20th-century immigrants: they use only their father's surname and two given names, the first is a Portuguese given name and the second one is a given 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 given name, Salim is an Arabian given name, and Maluf is his father's surname; or "Maria Heiko Sugahara" where Maria is a Portuguese given name, Heiko a Japanese given 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) or as "Salim Maluf" or "Heiko Sugahara" (in the immigrant's social community).

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

Patronymics are names derived from the father's given 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, Arantes, 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 given names, such as Joana Fernando, or André João, in which "Fernando" and "João" are surnames, not given names. 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 given 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 given names, but today they are used in Brazil almost exclusively as surnames, although Duarte and Dinis are still common given names in Portugal.

Matronymics (surnames derived from female given 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 given name that was the basis of the patronymic became archaic, such as Lopo (the basis of Lopes), Mendo or Mem (Mendes), Vasco (Vasques), Soeiro (Soares), Munio (Muniz), Sancho (Sanches). Also, often the given 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).

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, Pacheco (from village of Pacheca), Porto (Oporto), 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 (site fenced), Outeiro (hill or hillock),Vilar/Villar (from Latin "villagio", a village), Seixas/Seijas (pebbles), Veiga/Vega (banks of a river), Cordoba/Cordova (hill near the river), Padron (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), and Azevedo (a forest of azevinho, a holly wood) 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 is "site covered with stones".

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 given 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 and the Latin language exist the spelling sanctus gives rise to other variants 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 Baptist), João Evangelista (from Saint John the Evangelist), João de Deus (from Saint John of God), Antônio 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 given 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.

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 ("Branch of a tree" or 'Executioner").

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).

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),[18] 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).

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 Lion (Leão); plant/vegetable Pimentel (pepper); fruit such as Figo 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 inquisition.

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). 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[19] 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 given 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, 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 (Medinah), Romano (Roman), Romão, Romeiro, Tolledam/Toledano (from Toledo), Vallency (Valencia) and Vascos (Basque); some were patronymics from Biblical names like Abraão (Abraham), Lázaro (Lazar), Barnabé, Benjamim, 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, like the German Goldfarb), Ruivo (red-headed), Crespo (curly), Querido (beloved) and Parente (family relative). A few names are not distinct from old Portuguese surnames like Camarinha, Castro, Crespim.[20]

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.[20]

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[21] and the classical economist David Ricardo. Other famous members of the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam bore names such as Uriel da Costa (or Uriel Acosta), Abraham Pimentel - Rabbi of the Portuguese synagogue of Amsterdam, 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.

These are some most frequent surnames in Portugal:[22][23]

According to a large scale study of names extracted from various social networking websites, the most common surnames in Brazil are:[24]

According to the newspaper Público,[25] the most common given names in Portugal, for 105,000 children born in 2008 were:

According to the IBGE the most common given names in Brazil in 2010 were:[26]

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

Until abolition of slavery, slaves did not have surnames, only given names. They were even forbidden to use their distinct African or Native Brazilian names and were christened with a Portuguese given 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 given 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.

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.

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...

Despite the lesser variation in Portuguese surnames, immigration from other countries (mainly from Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, UK, Syria, Lebanon, Japan, United States and more recently China, Korea, Africa, Hispanic America and Haiti) increased the diversity of surnames in 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.

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.

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 given 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).

In Brazil, descendants of famous people sometimes use a surname composed of both the given name and the surname of their ancestor, like Ruy Barbosa, Vital Brasil, Miguel Pereira 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.

In Portugal, newborn children can only be named from a list of given names[27] 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 given 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 given 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 given names, joining together the given names of the parents or classical given 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 given 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).[28] 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).

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 given 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 given names of Native Brazilian origin like Rudá (love), Cauã and Cauê (sun), although their use connotes the hippie culture.