Paiva
A Portuguese surname originally taken from a place name, most likely referring to someone from a locale called Paiva.
The #9,643 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 91,752 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Paiva is a Portuguese surname built from a place name rather than from a personal description or occupation. In Portuguese onomastics, surnames like this usually began as identifiers for someone who came from a town, estate, or river valley called Paiva. The place name itself is ancient in form, and its deeper pre-Roman origin is not certain.
History
The surname is strongly associated with Portugal and later spread through Portuguese-speaking migration, especially to Brazil and other parts of the Lusophone world. It is a relatively common Portuguese family name and is also found in regions shaped by Portuguese settlement and diaspora. Because it is toponymic, the same surname could arise independently from different local references to Paiva.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same basic surname form can appear with small prepositions added in older records, such as de Paiva or da Paiva.