I get asked more questions about Sephardic surnames than anything else. Hopefully, this page can help provide answers.
Do I have a Sephardic surname?
Family names were adopted in different parts of the world at different times and in different ways. In Spain and Portugal it is common to use two surnames, generally one from each parent. In the Spanish tradition the father’s name comes first, and in Portuguese the mother’s.
Generally, Iberian surnames were not fixed (meaning you know which name will be inherited from which parent) until around the late 18th century. Someone may have used a surname from a parent’s family, but not necessarily the same surname the parent used. So, a child might carry different surnames from its parents or siblings.
Add to this that women often adopted a husband’s surname on marriage; that people may go by different names in different places; that place names and nicknames might be used as surnames; and issues when someone moved between Portuguese and Spanish jurisdictions but the name order didn’t always change.
It is a mess. If you know the surnames of an ancestor alive in 1800, you cannot be confident that either or both of these names were inherited from specific ancestors living in 1500. This is equally true if you believe you might have Jewish or Christian ancestors.
Who are we talking about?
The interest in Sephardic surnames is mainly focused on believed ancestry in two populations:
- Those who converted to Catholicism in Spain in or before 1492
- The Western/Portuguese Sephardic diaspora. This is the community that was forcibly converted in Portugal in 1496. Members of this community also moved to Spain and adopted Spanish surnames.
Nobody precisely knows how many people were forcibly converted in Spain. Research in Spain and Mexico suggests that knowledge of Jewish customs generally ceased a couple of generations after conversion to Christianity.
At its very greatest number, the Western Portuguese global diaspora probably numbered less than 50,000 souls at any one time.
New Christians were officially banned from travelling to the Spanish colonies. Those wanting to be Jewish will presumably have travelled to free Jewish communities in Europe or North Africa. It is possible that some New Christians who wanted to identify as Jewish might have migrated to the Americas, but probably not many.
The Myth of “Sephardic Surnames”
‘Sephardic surnames’ were popularized by a well-meaning, if confused, Ashkenazi amateur genealogist in the early days of the Internet in the late 1990s. He argued that if a New Christian or Jew had used a specific surname then the SURNAME was likely Jewish and therefore people using the surname today are of Jewish descent. Apparently Catholics using the same surname didn’t count! The claim was plastered across the Internet in 2001. I believe it was taken up and amplified by the Tracing the Tribe blog and others. It is a myth that refuses to die.
In Spain and Portugal there seems to be a myth that Jews adopted surnames from trees and fruit. I suspect most surnames were probably adopted from godparents at the original baptisms, but I don’t know.
Common Misconceptions about Sephardic Surnames
- There are lists of surnames allegedly accepted by the Spanish government for their former citizenship scheme. This was a hoax.
- The Portuguese nationality law references some surnames as being indications of Jewishness. A surname alone is no evidence.
- On various website all 100 of the 100 most common Portuguese (Christian) surnames have been stated to be Jewish, as well as 99 of the 100 most common Spanish surnames. Either the claim of Sephardic surnames is wrong, or there were virtually never any Christians in Spain or Portugal.
- A coat of arms belongs to a family, not a surname. In Amsterdam some Sephardic Jews copied the heraldry of unrelated aristocratic families in Spain.
Most Common Surnames in Portuguese Inquisition Records
It is reported that the most common surnames of people accused in Portuguese Inquisition documents of being Jewish are:
| Surname | Number of People |
| Rodrigues | 453 |
| Nunes | 229 |
| Mendes | 224 |
| Lopes | 282 |
| Miranda | 190 |
| Gomes | 184 |
| Henriques | 174 |
| Costa | 138 |
| Fernandes | 132 |
| Pereira | 124 |
| Dias | 124 |
These surnames being used by people accused of being Jewish does not make the names Jewish. Most Portuguese people with those surnames probably had little or no Jewish ancestry.
Tips for Accurate Genealogical Research
- Join your local genealogical society.
- Focus on genealogical evidence rather than surnames. Follow the evidence where it leads.
- Consider historical and geographical context.
- Rely on archival records rather than Internet claims.
The Sephardic Genealogical Society’s Code of Conduct states:
5. “Surname Reports”. “Surname reports” are studies that show that surnames in an applicant’s family were previously used by Sephardic Jews and/or ”New Christians”. In the absence of genealogy, these reports can be inappropriately used to imply that there is a familial connection between two unconnected individuals of the same surname, even when divided by centuries and continents. All 100 of the most common Portuguese surnames have been used by Sephardim at some date, as have 99 of the 100 most common Spanish surnames. “Surname reports” have no place in Sephardic genealogy.
https://www.sephardic.world/code-of-conduct
11. Fair treatment of clients.
b. Clients who have been sold “surname reports” should be offered full refunds
Need Professional Help with Your Sephardic Genealogical Research?
I don’t do speculative research. If you have a solid reason for believing you have Sephardic ancestry, for example an ancestor from a known Jewish community, and want help with your genealogy, then please get in touch.
If you have found this page on Sephardic surnames useful, then please consider making a small donation to support this site and my work.
See also: