Azevedo
A Portuguese surname meaning “from the ash grove” or “ashwood.”
The #5,762 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 51,338 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Azevedo is a Portuguese name built from the word azevedo, meaning an ash grove or place of ash trees. It goes back ultimately to Latin words for “ash tree” and was first used to identify someone from such a place. Like many Iberian surnames, it began as a locational byname and later became hereditary.
History
The name is strongly associated with Portugal and has spread widely in Portuguese-speaking communities, especially in Portugal and Brazil. It is also found in Spanish-language records in border regions and in the wider Lusophone diaspora. Historical forms often appear with the preposition de, as in "de Azevedo," showing its original sense of geographic origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is common enough in Portuguese history that it appears in many noble and local lineages, not just one family line.
From the historical record
“do Gemondiz et Maria Gem. et Velasco Gemondiz. Pelagio Ciprianiz genuit Petrum Pliz. et filiam ejus cum qua sedet Munio Guttierriz de Azevedo. Pe- trus Pliz genuit filios et filias. Sesgundia gnt. Ihn- nem Primum et Fernando Primo et Martino Consi- lio et Petro Scorzo et Maria Pliz. Ihnne Primo gnt. filios et…”
— Ensayo histórico etimológico filológico sobre los apellidos castellanos