Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics publishes, for the first time, the list of the most common nicknames in the country
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released, for the first time, the list of the most common nicknames in Brazil. And the result confirms a tradition that crosses generations and oceans: Silva and Santos are the most common family names among Brazilians.
According to the survey carried out, 34 million people have the surname Silva, equivalent to 17% of the population. Derived from Latin, it means “jungle” or “forest” and, according to IBGE, it was commonly adopted by families from areas with abundant vegetation.
In second place comes the surname Santos, registered by 21.4 million Brazilians, around 10.5% of the population. The name is an abbreviation for “all saints” and, historically, was given to those born on All Saints’ Day, celebrated on November 1st. The institute also explains that many converts to Christianity during the Inquisition ended up adopting this nickname.
Interestingly, the most popular nicknames in Brazil are also some of the most common in Portugal. According to data from , released in February this year, Silva also leads the national ranking, with 805,446 registrations, followed by Santos (498,856), Ferreira (407,947) and Pereira (403,139).
The 30 most popular nicknames in Brazil
1. Silva – 34.030.104
2. Santos – 21.367.475
3. Oliveira – 11.708.947
4. Souza – 9.197.158
5. Pereira – 6.888.212
6. Ferreira – 6.226.228
7. Lima – 6.094.630
8. Alves – 5.756.825
9. Rodrigues – 5.428.540
10. Costa – 4.861.083
11. Sousa – 4.797.390
12. Gomes – 4.046.634
13. Birth – 3,609,232
14. Araújo – 3,460,940
15. Ribeiro – 3.127.425
16. Almeida – 3,069,183
17. Jesus – 2.859.490
18. Barbosa – 2.738.119
19. Soares – 2,615,284
20. Carvalho – 2.599.978
21. Martins – 2.576.764
22. Lopes – 2.337.914
23. Vieira – 2.102.389
24. Rocha – 2.044.495
25. Dias – 2.035.387
26. Gonçalves – 2,028,298
27. Fernandes – 1.835.974
28. Santana – 1.815.982
29. Andrade – 1.707.452
30. Batista – 1.703.130
It also allows you to consult all the nicknames used by at least one hundred people. Those who want to know more about their family origin can access , where it is possible to discover the frequency of the surname, its historical origin and the region where it is most common.
Maria and José remain at the top of first names
Data from the 2022 Census also reveals that Maria and José continue to be the most popular first names among Brazilian women and men, respectively.
