Silva
Coat of arms associated to Silva surname
Origin
Meaning"forest, woodland or jungle"
Region of originPortugal, Galicia
Other names
Variant form(s)Zilva

Silva is a Portuguese and Galician surname widespread in the Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Portugal[1][2][3] and Brazil.[4][5] It originates from the Latin toponymic /natural world word silva, meaning "forest" or "woodland". It is the family name of the House of Silva.

The name is also widespread in Galician-speaking regions of Spain (mostly in Galicia) and even more so in regions of the former Portuguese Empire in the Americas (being the most common surname in Brazil), in Africa and Asia, notably in India and Sri Lanka. It is also quite common in Spanish-speaking Latin America.

Movement of people has led to the name being used in many places. Due to emigration from Portuguese-speaking countries, Silva (and the variants Da Silva and De Silva) is the fifth most common surname in the French department of Val-de-Marne, outside Paris,[6] and it was the 19th most common family name given to newborns between 1966 and 1990 in France. It is also the seventh most common surname (and the most common non-German, non-French) in Luxembourg. It is also among the top 20 surnames in Andorra, Angola, Cape Verde and Switzerland.

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 64.7% of all known bearers of the surname Silva were residents of Brazil (frequency 1:57), 5.3% of Mexico (1:417), 5.1% of Portugal (1:37), 3.2% of Mozambique (1:152), 2.8% of Venezuela (1:192), 2.7% of the United States (1:2,361), 2.3% of Chile (1:136), 2.2% of Argentina (1:349), 2.2% of Peru (1:263), 2.0% of Colombia (1:424) and 1.1% of Guinea-Bissau (1:29).

In Brazil, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:57) in the following states:[7]

  1. Maranhão (1:24)
  2. Bahia (1:32)
  3. Roraima (1:32)
  4. Pará (1:35)
  5. Acre (1:38)
  6. Amapá (1:39)
  7. Alagoas (1:39)
  8. Sergipe (1:40)
  9. Amazonas (1:43)
  10. Rio Grande do Norte (1:47)
  11. Pernambuco (1:51)
  12. Goiás (1:53)
  13. Paraíba (1:53)
  14. Piauí (1:54)
  15. Ceará (1:55)
  16. Federal District (1:55)

Arts

Actors

Musicians

Painters and sculptors

Writers

First name
Surname

Other arts

Historical figures

Media

Political and military figures

Religion

Scholars

Sports

Many people on this list are not generally known as Silva.[9]

Auto racing

Basketball

Beach volleyball

Cricket

Football

Brazil

Male international players
Female international players
Others

Croatia

England

Equatorial Guinea

France

Paraguay

Portugal

Spain

Sri Lanka

Uruguay

Managers and referees

Martial arts

Track and field

Other sports

Other professions

Fictional characters

See also

References

  1. ↑ Saiba quais são os 3 sobrenomes mais comuns em 64 diferentes países. Archived 2013-08-17 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ © 2005 SOCIEDADE PORTUGUESA DE INFORMAÇÃO ECONÓMICA S.A. – SPIE (in Portuguese).
  3. ↑ Os 100 Apelidos mais frequentes da População Portuguesa Archived 2013-02-28 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese).
  4. ↑ O ProJovem é Silva, Santos... Archived 2013-10-17 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese).
  5. ↑ Descubra como surgiram os Silva, os Araújo, os Fernandes, os Batista, os Carneiro... Archived 2013-10-22 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese).
  6. ↑ Number of Da Silva in France
  7. ↑ Silva surname distribution
  8. ↑ "Silva, Mac". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  9. ↑ In Brazil, sportspeople, especially footballers, are frequently referred to by their apelido/alcunha, a one- or two-word appellation that may be part of their real name or a nickname. For example, Roberto Carlos da Silva is better known as Roberto Carlos, Marta Vieira da Silva as Marta, José Roberto da Silva Júnior as Zé Roberto, and Nélson de Jesus Silva as Dida. Ayrton Senna da Silva is a slightly different case; he chose to be known professionally by his mother's family name of Senna.

Bibliography

  • BOUZA ZERRANO, José. Da Descendência de Don Francisco Prieto Gayoso'. Edição do Autor, 1ª Edição, Lisboa, 1980.
  • COROMINES, Joan. Onomasticon Cataloniæ (vol. I-VIII). Barcelona: 1994.
  • SOUSA, Manuel de. As origens dos apelidos das famílias portuguesas. Sporpress, 2001.
  • TÁVORA, D. Luis de Lancastre e. Dicionário das Famílias Portuguesas. Quetzal Editores, 2ª Edição, Lisboa, pág. 324.
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