Barboza
An Iberian surname most often linked to Barba/Barbosa-style place names and the Latin root for “beard.”
The #4,172 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,336 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Barboza is a spelling found mainly in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking communities. It is usually treated as a variant of Barbosa, a surname tied to place names and ultimately to Latin barba, meaning “beard.” In surname history, that root may have referred either to a bearded person or, more often, to a locality named for some beard-like feature, such as rough vegetation or a similar landmark.
History
The surname spread through the Iberian Peninsula and later to Latin America through Portuguese and Spanish expansion and migration. In modern records, Barboza is especially common in Portugal, Brazil, and Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas. The spelling with -z- can reflect regional orthographic variation, family tradition, or adaptation in migration records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it comes from the same Latin root as “barber” and “beard,” Barboza belongs to a whole family of surnames built on the word barba.