Portuguese Names: Avelina & Amaro
Perhaps because there are so few Portuguese-Americans–just about a million and a half 窶杯he nameﾂstock ﾂof Portugal has been somewhat neglected by outsiders, especially since it shares so many similarities with the Spanish.
But many Portuguese names have a distinctive flavor of their own, as well as unusual pronunciation conventions, some of whichﾂare explainedﾂbelow.ﾂﾂ And, as noted by Filipa on one of the nameberry forums, there are specific naming rules, limiting parents to traditional Portuguese names.ﾂ No Apples or Armanis in Amadora!ﾂﾂOne consequence of these strictures, though, isﾂan extremely ﾂrich variety of diminutives and pet names.ﾂ
For the royals of the past, there could be an interminable string of names, as for example the 19th century Queen known as Maria da Gloria Joana Carlota Leopoldina da Cruz Francisca Xavier de Paula Isidora Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga da Austria e Braganca.
Being a 97% Roman Catholic country, many Portuguese names come from popular saints or from the Bible–Maria is the perpetual #1 girls’ name., as it is today.ﾂﾂAnd what are the otherﾂpopular names in Portugal right now?ﾂ Here, according to one newspaper, are the top six of last year:
Girls
Also popular:
AVELINA
And for boys:JOﾃグ ((JWO)
MARTIM
TOMﾃヾ
Plus:
AMARO
Here are some othersﾂnative to Portugal (and Portuguese-speaking Brazil):
GIRLS
CATIA
DEOLINDA (deh-o-LEEN-da)
DIANAI
EDUARDA
ELZIRA (ehl-SEE-ra)
GRACA (GRAH-sah or GRAH-kah))
JACINTA (zhah-SEEN-tah)
JOAQUINA (zho-KWEE-nah)
LIANOR
NEVES (nay-vesh)
TRINDADE (treen-DAD-deh)
VIDONIA
ZENAIDE (zeh-nah-EE-dee)
BOYS
ADﾃグ (ah-dow)
ADRIﾃグ (ahd-ree-ow)
ALBANO (ahl-BAH-no)
ALEXIO (ah-LESH-ee-o)
BASTIﾃグ (BAHS-tee-ow)
BELMIRO
BRAZ (brahsh)
DAMIﾃグ (DAH-me-ow)
FLORIANO
JACINTO (zhah-SEEN-to
JOAQUIM (zhwah-KEEM)
JORDﾃグ (zhor-dow)
LEﾃグ (lay-oh)
LIBERATO, LIBERIO
LIDIO
PLACISO
ROMAO (ro-MAH-o)
TADEU (tah-dayoo)
ZACHEO (zash-EH-o)
Here are a few of the appealing hypocoristics (pet names to you):
ITO for Carlos
JUJU for Joana
KIKA for Francisca
Nﾃ劾ﾃ for Inﾃｪs
Tﾃ for Teresa
Zﾃ瓜ﾃ for Josﾃｩ
And now some of thoseﾂPortuguese rules of pronunciation: The letter 窶h窶 adds a 窶y窶 sound, so that nha would sound like nyah; the tilde (~) above a vowel, followed by another vowel, nasalizes the second one; a 窶z窶 when beginning a word is pronounced 窶sh窶, while ch is pronounced sh. An accent over a vowel doesn窶冲 change its sound, but just alerts you to which syllable to accent.ﾂ
And if you窶决e looking for some real esoterica, here窶冱 a site that gives an interesting list of Portuguese names from the 16th century:
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17 Responses to “Portuguese Names: Avelina & Amaro”
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Whitney Says:
rachelmarie Says:
These names are so interesting… I actually love the name Beatriz.
One of my favorite basketball player’s changed his name to Nenﾃｪ, because he is Brazilian and I guess it means “baby” in Portuguese-Brazilian. So the mention of that just reminded me 
Jillian Says:
We have a Brazilian named Joao in seventh grade, but he goes by John
Corinne Says:
Avelina might just be the most gorgeous exotic name I’ve ever heard. It’s got that exotic femininissima sound and its similarity to Ava/Eva so it might just take off here…
Christina Fonseca Says:
Whitney: hate to disappoint you but Amaro does not rhyme with Camaro. Both “A”s sound like the ‘a’ in father.
I live in an area with a large Portuguese population, specifically from the Azore Islands. Joao, Manuel, Maria and Deolinda abound in Central California. And you can’t forget Fatima, after Our Lady of Fatima.
I know a Mary Jo whose nickname is Zezinha, which is loosely translated “little Jo”.
Charlotte Vera Says:
Fascinating! A friend’s roommate was a championship [male] Brazilian kickboxer named Bibiano.
Victoria Says:
In love with the name Elzira! It’s beautiful and different yet familiar.
Jill Says:
Great post! I love so many of these names, especially:
Leonor
Mariana
Catelina
Eliana
Leonardo
Oliverio (great source of Rio, too)
I love reading about names from other countries!
PORTUGUESE NAMES: Avelina & Amaro 窶 Baby Name Blog – Nameberry | Arabic names Says:
[...] post:ﾂ PORTUGUESE NAMES: Avelina & Amaro 窶 Baby Name Blog – Nameberry Share and [...]
Emz Says:
Love these. Graca is incredibly pretty – what a lovely alternative to Grace (which I also like).
Filipa Says:
I’m so happy right now 
First of all, yes, it’s hard naming a kid when you have to follow so many rules, especially when unusual names – even when approved – raise many many eyebrows. Like naming your kid Amaro… that would be really weird!!
Second of all, almost every girl’s name start with Ana or Maria so, we are called by our second name and not by the first one. Cool, ah?
Well, for those of you who don’t have rules, i suggest:
- Lua (pronounced Lou-ah and means Moon). It’s a girl name!
teabee Says:
The few and the proud!
Ana Rita Says:
Iﾂｴm portuguese, and I have to say that it is really hard to choose a good diferent name in Portugal.
When I said that I wanted to name my baby girl Violeta (Violet) everyone said that I shouldn’t because it’s not an usual name.
Here we don’t really want to have a diferent name…
I struggled with my name, because there’s Ana’s everywere. Actualy, just in my family there’s 5. Me, my sister, my mother, my grandmother and my cousin. And in one of my classes I had 3 Ana Rita’s and 3 other Anas.
As a note: many of the names published aren’t widly used anymore like:
LIDIO
MAXIMINO
NILO
OLIVERIO
NEVES
TRINDADE
VIDONIA
FRYDA
GENOVEVA
And it isn’t Felipa, is Filipa.
Carmela Says:
Unfortunately Brazil doesn’t have an official list of the most popular given names, but according to the Brazilian Baby Center, these were the most commonly used names in 2009:
GIRLS:
1. Maria*
2. Ana*
3. Jﾃｺlia
4. Sofia/Sophia (both spellings are widely used)
5. Giovana/Giovanna
6. Isabela/Isabella
7. Beatriz
8. Manuela
9. Yasmin
10. Mariana
*When the first name is either Ana or Maria, people usually call her by her first and middle name together as one name; for example, Ana Clara, Ana Beatriz, Maria Eduarda, Maria Luﾃｭsa, etc.
BOYS:
1. Gabriel
2. Arthur
3. Matheus
4. Davi
5. Lucas
6. Guilherme
7. Pedro
8. Miguel
9. Enzo
10. Gustavo
Debra Says:
This list is great! My husband is Portuguese and we try to name our kids Portuguese names. Our sons are Diogo and Cruz Augusto (I know Cruz is a more common surname- but gaining popularity:-) Now we are working at coming up with our first GIRLS name!!
Avalina S 30 Says:
[...] PORTUGUESE NAMES: Avelina & Amaro – Baby Name Blog – Nameberry November 30th 2009 at 04:37 pm. The few and the proud! ). Ana Rita Says: January 3rd, 2010 at 04:37 pm. Iﾂｴm portuguese, and I have to say that it is really hard to choose a good diferent name in Portugal. [...]
heatherleila Says:
Just as a note, it should be Graﾃｧa, not Graca. The ﾃ makes an S sound, a C next to A would make a K sound. It is pronounced Gra(s)a not Gra(k)a.
Nelson Mandelaﾂｴs current wife has this name: Graﾃｧa Machel.
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What a neat list! By any chance, does anyone know the correct pronunciation of Amaro? My hubby and I are both car obsessed, and a guilty pleasure of mine is car-themed baby names. I was just wondering if it was at all similar to Chevy’s Camaro.