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Pereira History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables World Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Pereira History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Portugal
Spain

The surname Pereira is of local origin, that is, it is a surname derived from the place of origin of the initial bearer. In this case, the surname is derived from one of several places so named in Portugal. The name is derived from the Spanish word "Pera," which means "pear."

Early Origins of the Pereira family

The surname Pereira was first found in Northern Portugal near the Spanish border. The ancestors of the bearers of this name are thought to descend from Don Mendo "irmao" of Desiderio, King of the Lombards. After a great storm at sea, five of his knights arrived at a port in Galicia, Spain in 740. One of the earliest records of the surname is of Don Alvaro Pires de Castro, who, in 1177 was given lands in Palmeira in the province of Entre Douro by King Sancho I.

Early History of the Pereira family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pereira research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1360, 1383, 1385, 1431, 1433, 1535, 1588, 1591, 1610, 1645, 1655, 1683, 1708 and 1954 are included under the topic Early Pereira History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pereira Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Pereira, Perera, Perreira and others.

Early Notables of the Pereira family

Prominent members of the family include

Pedro Homem Pereira, the 17th and last Captain-major of Portuguese Ceylon (1591-1954)
Marcos Soares Pereira (died 1655), a Portuguese composer

Pereira World Ranking

In the United States, the name Pereira is the 1,940^th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 1 However, in Canada, the name Pereira is ranked the 464^th most popular surname with an estimated 10,309 people with that name. 2 And in Quebec, Canada, the name Pereira is the 922^nd popular surname. 3 France ranks Pereira as 162^nd with 19,991 people. 4

Pereira migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Pereira Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Simon Pereira, who immigrated to Chile in 1555
Guiomar Pereira, who sailed to New Spain in 1562
Guimar Pereira, who is on record in New Spain in 1562
Blasina de Pereira, who settled in New Spain in 1596

Pereira Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Abraham Pereira, who arrived in New York in 1715 5
Manuel Pereira, who was registered as a "servant or apprentice" in Philadelphia in 1746
Manuel Pereira, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1746 5
Josef Pereira, who immigrated to Louisiana in 1779

Pereira Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Jacinto Pereira, who landed in New Orleans in 1823
Jacinto Pereira, aged 20, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1823 5
Christobal Pereira, aged 32, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1835 5
Juan Antonio Pereira, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1848 5
Rose Pereira, aged 26, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1856 5

Pereira Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Agostircho Pereira, aged 28, who immigrated to America from St Michael's, in 1906
Adelino Bio Pereira, aged 22, who immigrated to the United States from Lavos, Portugal, in 1908
Albino Pereira, aged 24, who landed in America from Sabbadim, Portugal, in 1913
Abilio Pereira, aged 21, who settled in America from Villerinho, Portugal, in 1916
Agustin Pereira, aged 32, who immigrated to the United States from Calamanca, Spain, in 1917
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pereira migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 6

Pereira Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

Esther Lopes Pereira, who arrived in Jamaica in 1745 5
Rachel Fernandes Pereira, who landed in Jamaica in 1746 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Pereira (post 1700) +

Kevin Pereira (b. 1982), American game show host and TV personality
William Leonard Pereira (1909-1985), American architect
Irene Rice Pereira (1907-1971), American abstract painter
Stephen E. Pereira, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Presidential Elector for California, 1968 7
António José Lima Pereira (1952-2022), Portuguese footballer who played as a central defender for the Portugal National Team (1981-1985)
Frank Pereira (1945-2023), Portuguese-born, South African football midfielder, member of the 1981 quadruple winning Kaizer Chiefs
José Reis Pereira (1943-2023), Brazilian teacher and politician, Member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, he served in the Legislative Assembly of Piauí from 1987 to 1991
Luiz Pereira (1961-2022), Brazilian gold medalist Paralympic athlete who competed mainly in category THW4 throwing events
Maximiliano Rodrigo Pereira Cardozo (1993-2020), Uruguayan professional footballer who played as a defender in 160 matches
Jacques Pereira (1955-2020), known simply as Jacques, a Portuguese professional footballer who played as a striker
... (Another 14 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
"The first 1,000 family names by rank, Quebec (in French only)" Institut de la statistique du Quebec, https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/document/family-names-in-quebec/tableau/the-first-1000-family-names-by-rank-quebec
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 17) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html