De Oliveira
A Portuguese surname meaning “from the olive tree” or “of Oliveira,” often pointing to a family connected with a place named Oliveira.
The #8,139 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,822 Americans shares it.
Etymology
De Oliveira is a Portuguese surname built from the preposition de, meaning “of” or “from,” plus Oliveira, a common place-name and word tied to the olive tree. In practice it usually means “from Oliveira” or “of the olive tree,” since Oliveira is both a surname and the name of many towns and parishes in Portugal and Brazil. The deeper root is Latin oliva, “olive,” with the Portuguese place-name developed from the tree or grove.
History
This type of surname is common in Portugal and the Lusophone world, where de + place-name often identified a person by origin rather than by occupation or ancestry. Families carrying De Oliveira may descend from someone associated with a town, parish, estate, or landmark called Oliveira. The name spread widely through Portuguese migration to Brazil and other former Portuguese-speaking regions.
Origin
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Fun fact
Olive-tree names are very common in Portuguese surnames because olive cultivation has long been culturally and economically important in Iberia.