Porto
A surname that usually points to someone from a port or a place called Porto.
The #9,234 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 87,563 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Porto is a surname built from the Romance word for a port, harbor, or landing place, ultimately from Latin portus, meaning 'harbor' or 'gateway.' In Portuguese especially, O Porto is a well-known place-name, and surnames from towns, districts, or harbors could easily arise from it. In some cases it may also reflect ancestry from a specific place named Porto in Italy or the Iberian world.
History
The name is most naturally understood as a locational surname, attached to people identified with a port town or harbor district. It is found in several Romance-language areas, especially where Porto is a common place-name. In English-language records it may also appear through immigration from Portugal, Spain, Italy, or French-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The city of Porto in Portugal gave English the older form Oporto, still familiar in names like port wine.
From the historical record
“caie ('Terra Portucalensis '), Lat. Partus Cale, the Roman name of the mod. Portu- guese O Porto, The Port] The princes doughter of Portingale. — William and the Werwolf (14th cent.), 1 14. The mediaeval ballad ' Old Robin of Portingale ' was printed by Percy.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)