In Brazil we have some surnames that are very popular and recurrent and most of them have Portuguese origin. This is the case of surnames such as Silva, Souza, Santos and Albuquerque. However, it is also possible to find rare surnames in Brazil that few people know its origin and meaning.
Examples of rare names in Brazil and their meanings
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Everyone knows at least one person with a last name that stands out precisely because it is very different from the rest. Generally, we tend to associate these people with foreigners, but that doesn't work in all cases. After all, some surnames were consolidated here in Brazil and can already be read as “Brazilians”. See some examples:
Lewis
This name can appear as a first name or surname and, in both cases, its origins refer to medieval England and the Celtic people. In this case, its meaning would be something like "Illustrious Warrior" or "Mighty in War". Here in Brazil, many families have it, but the majority of the population is unaware of its meaning.
Santoro
Yes, this is the last name of one of the most renowned actors in Brazil, with Italian and Latin origins. In this case, the original expression Sanctorum is the same as “dos santos” so common as a surname in Brazil. In addition, it can be read as an abbreviation of the expression “All Saints Day”, which in Latin is “Dies festus Sanctorum omnium”.
Militant
Despite being very popular in Portugal, this name is not so common here in Brazil, although it arrived here from the Portuguese. However, its origin is much older and goes back to the Greek, where “Melitão” would mean “Honey”. Thus, it is possible that the last name is a variation of the original expression.
antonelli
Here we have one more example of a very common surname in some Brazilian celebrities, but that we don't often see like that in families. In this case, the studies analyze that its origins are in the Greek Anteo. He arrived in Brazil a long time ago. Thus, its meaning would be something like "warrior" or "leader".