Nunes
A Portuguese and Jewish surname meaning “son of Nuno,” ultimately from a personal name of uncertain origin.
The #2,942 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,326 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Nunes is a patronymic surname formed from the given name Nuno, with the ending -es meaning “son of” in older Portuguese. In practice it means “descendant of Nuno.” The personal name Nuno is ancient Iberian, but its deeper origin is not fully settled, so the surname’s ultimate root is sometimes described as uncertain.
History
The name is strongly associated with Portugal and Portuguese-speaking communities, and it is also found among Sephardic and other Jewish families from the Iberian world. Portuguese surnames of this type spread widely through migration to Brazil, North America, and other parts of the Portuguese diaspora. Variants and related forms appear in combinations such as Vaz Nunes and other double surnames in Iberian naming traditions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the ending -es is patronymic, Nunes works much like English “Johnson” or “Wilson,” but with a distinctly Portuguese flavor.
From the historical record
“Storey is Btili amoag the most fiunili«r of Yorlrabire nunes, but it has become, of necessity, mixed with Storer, which bUo is well cstablisbed in that county. Jobumoi Sturj, 1379: P. T. Yorlu.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances