Brazil is a true patchwork of the world, with a degree of miscegenation seen in few nations on the globe.
For this reason, here we can find family surnames from the four corners of the world, some even with a strong relationship with ancient empires and kingdoms with great historical importance.
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In this sense, it is relatively common to come across descendants of families originating in Europe, especially from the ancient Roman Empire, which dominated the continent for just over five centuries.
Below, we present eight surnames with Roman origins that are relatively common in Brazil. Is yours one of them?
The coast
The surname Acosta or “Acoista” is actually unknown. Despite having its emergence associated with the Roman Empire because of a supposed tribute to Emperor Augustus, there is no way to confirm this.
On the other hand, this nickname is also attributed to a king called Acoista, who would have reigned in some region of current Italy before the establishment of the empire itself. His benevolence would have inspired vassals and subjects to adopt his name.
Coast
Of all the surnames mentioned in this list, Costa is the one that has spread the most in Brazil.
In Ancient Rome, this surname was used to identify citizens who lived in Roman cities along the Mediterranean coast. In other words, millions of people received it, which justifies its popularity not only in Brazil, but also in countries such as Portugal, Spain, France and Italy itself.
Bianchi
“Bianchi”, which means “white” and has the same etymological root as the name “Bianca” is one of the surnames brought to Brazil by Italian immigrants.
It is not known exactly why, but this surname was widely used before and after the Roman Empire established itself in the “boot region”, which justifies its spread throughout the world.
Esposito
In the ancient Roman Empire, whoever carried the surname Espósito or D’Espósito was marked by a sad story. This is because this nickname, which originates from the Latin expression “ex positus”, was given to bastard children who were not accepted by their parents. Nowadays, many Brazilians proudly carry “Espósito” in their name.
Fontana
Have you ever heard of the Trevi Fountain, Rome’s iconic “wishing fountain”? Well, the surname “Fontana” was inspired by places like this, which have been common in Rome since the beginnings of the Eternal City.
In fact, despite historically having different origins, the surnames Fontana and Fontes have the same etymology, coming from ancestors who had strong connections with places where water flowed from the Earth.
March
Marco, Marcus or Marcos, is an extremely common name in Brazil and in several other places around the world that can be used both as a proper name and as a surname.
This word originates from Rome and means “protected by the god Mars”, the war deity worshiped in the ancient empire based in the city.
In fact, the biblical Mark, who became one of the four evangelists, was born in Rome and was probably the son of parents devoted to the “red god” who even has a planet in his honor.
Rossi
Our penultimate surname is another Italic surname. This time, we have Rossi, or “De Rossi”. This surname is very common in communities of Italian descent in Brazil.
Its origin lies in the words “russus” and “rubeu”, which were used to designate red-haired people in the past. In other words, calling someone “Rossi” was the same as saying something like “a person with red hair”.
Romero
With origins traced back to ancient Castilian, established around the 10th century, “Romero” arrived in Brazilian and Latin American lands through Spanish immigrants.
However, “digging” a little more we can discover that the etymology of this word refers directly to the time when the Empire Roman was fully Christianized, becoming a center of pilgrimage for millions of Christians across Europe and the East Next.
Thus, “Romero” or “Romeiro” was the name given to all pilgrims who arrived in Rome to visit holy sites. Later becoming a surname, it was passed down from generation to generation.
It is worth mentioning that to this day, those who make pilgrimages to Christian shrines and places of worship are still called “pilgrims”.
Graduated in History and Human Resources Technology. Passionate about writing, today he lives the dream of working professionally as a Web Content Writer, writing articles in several different niches and formats.