Mattos
A Portuguese surname usually tied to a place-name meaning “woods” or “thickets,” and widely found in Portuguese-speaking communities.
The #7,785 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 72,475 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mattos is a Portuguese surname associated with the word matos, meaning “brushwood,” “thickets,” or “scrubby woods.” It likely began as a locational name for someone who lived near such a place, or came from a place called Matos. The spelling with double -tt- is a later surname form, and it is also seen in compound Portuguese-Jewish family names such as Teixeira de Mattos.
History
The name is well established in Portugal and also appears in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking diaspora communities. In historical records it is especially familiar in compound surnames of Iberian families, including Portuguese Jewish and merchant lineages. The -s ending is standard in Portuguese surname spelling, while doubled consonants may reflect family tradition rather than a separate origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The form Teixeira de Mattos became known in Anglo-American and Dutch contexts through prominent emigrant families, helping the name travel far beyond Iberia.
From the historical record
“saro, De la Fuente, De Mnrcia, Morpurgo, Montezinos, De Cas- seres, Palacios; en vele dubbele of samengestelde namen: Gomez de la Penba, Henriquez de Castro, Teixeira de Mattos, Vaz Diaz, Vaz Nunes, Bueno de Mesquita, Franco Mendes, Cattela de Lima, Ozorio Co- la 90, Cohen de La ra, enz. Ik beb hier de spaaDscbe en…”
— De Nederlandsche geslachtsnamen in oorsprong, geschiedenis en beteekenis