Sousa (surname)

Sousa (/ˈsuːzə/, Portuguese: [ˈsouzɐ]), Souza, de Sousa (literally, from Sousa), de Souza or D'Souza is a common Portuguese-language surname, especially in Portugal, Brazil, East Timor, India (among Catholics in Goa, Bombay, and Mangalore), and Galicia.[1] In Africa, the name is common among people with Portuguese and Brazilian roots in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique.

For the noble family, see House of Sousa.
Sousa
Origin
Meaningtoponymic (from the Sousa River)
Region of originPortugal
Other names
Variant form(s)de Sousa, Souza, de Souza, D'Souza

Etymology and history

The name comes from the Sousa River in northern Portugal and the first men who used the surname was the noble of Visigoth origin Egas Gomes de Sousa. Sometimes the spelling is in the archaic form Souza or de Souza, which has occasionally been changed to D'Souza. The Spanish equivalent of this surname is Sosa and it was brought to Galicia (Spain) by Portuguese people and changed due a misspelling.

During the colonial era, the Portuguese built forts along Brazilian and West African coastal areas for trade, many of which were later used for the slave trade. They also had children with local women, and the children were given their fathers' last names.

Some Afro-Brazilians who returned to Africa also carry this last name. Among those are the Tabom people, descendants of Francisco Félix de Sousa, a white Portuguese-Brazilian man from Salvador, Bahia, in Brazil, once the richest man in West Africa due to his involvement in its slave trade.

Notable people sharing a variation of the surname Sousa

Scientists, academics and technologists

Visual artists

Actors and filmmakers

Entrepreneurs
  • Francisco Félix de Sousa (1754–1849), Portuguese-Brazilian slave trader
  • Osmel Sousa (1946–), Cuban-Venezuelan beauty pageant entrepreneur
  • Kenneth Walter de Souza (1985-), Singaporean Estate Planner and Financial Advisor

Musicians, singers and composers

Writers and journalists

Political figures

Athletes

Religious figures

Fictional characters

See also

References
  1. http://ilg.usc.es/cag/Controlador_ing?busca=sousa
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