AZORES-L Archives

Archiver > AZORES > 2001-08 > 0997154949


From: David Bertao <>
Subject: Re: [AZORES-L] Names: Abreu Bettencourt Bezerra and Rodrigues
Date: Mon, 06 Aug 2001 20:29:09 -0700
References: <200108031737.f73HbYX08738@sm0101.promedia.net>


Regarding the name of Abreu, I could not find it listed in modern dictionaries of the
Portuguese language. But I did find it in a 1928 edition of the Portuguese language
published in Brazil. It says that the abreu is a Brazilian species of bee (espécie de
abelha do Piauhy). Piauhy must be a town or an area in Brazil.

David


Doug da Rocha Holmes wrote:

> Cara Eugenia,
>
> I have these corrections for you:
>
> At 09:41 AM 8/3/2001 , Eugenia Paine Rapasky wrote:
> >
> >Abreu -
> >
> > Abreu, da Abreu, de Abreu, d'Abreu - from Evreaux, France
> >The surname is a toponymics (Surnames indicating a location). In the
> >12th century, the noble classes are using a location to help identify
> >people.
> > Information is from:
> >Doug da Rocha Holmes, "NAMING TRADITIONS, SURNAME TYPES", OProgresso,
> >Dece. 1995, Vol. 14, No. 4, page 9.
>
> I think "da Abreu" is a mistake. At least, I don't remember writing that.
>
> I think I read recently from Luis KW that the origin of Abreu coming from Evreaux is a myth, even though many or most nobility books do mention Evreaux. You can ask Luis KW about that.
>
> >Bezerra -
> >
> > Bezerra (calf), raised cattle
> >Surnames based on occupation, related to an animal.
> > Information is from:
> >Doug da Rocha Holmes, "NAMING TRADITIONS, SURNAME TYPES", OProgresso,
> >Dece. 1995, Vol. 14, No. 4, page 9
> >
> > Bezerra surname - common in Faial and Pico
> > Information is from:
> >Doug da Rocha Holmes, SURNAME ORGINS, 1995, page 3.
>
> Bezerra is one of the names in the category (surname types) of a nickname or "alcunha" and I only speculated that someone who first used that as a name might have been raising cattle. I don't know if that is correct, but one can imagine it and I doubt anyone can categorically refute it as a fact.
>
> I don't recall saying Faial is where you can commonly find Bezerra, but I might have said it was sometimes found there. It certainly isn't common anywhere outside of Pico when referring to the Azores.
>
> > Rodrigues in Portuguese, Rodgers in American as surnames
> > Information is from:
> >Doug da Rocha Holmes, "NAMING TRADITIONS, SURNAME TYPES", OProgresso,
>
> >Dece. 1995, Vol. 14, No. 4, page 10.
>
> "American" should be changed to "English" or "America" since "American" is not a language. I noticed this in one or two of your previous postings on names.
>
> > Rodrigues - change to Casquilho.
> >Family name.
> ...
> > Information is from the book:
> >James H. Guill, A HISTORY OF THE AZORES ISLANDS, Golden Shield
> >International, Vol. 5, 1993, page 53, 56, 57, 193, 231.
>
> Just a comment, one of these Rodrigues Casquilho branches appears in the 19th century records of S.Roque do Pico. One of their descendants lives in the Sacramento region.
>
> >
> >Eugenia
> >Concord, CA, USA
>
> Thanks again for your kind attention to all my articles on Portuguese names.
>
> Doug da Rocha Holmes
> www.dholmes.com/articles.html
>
> ==== AZORES Mailing List ====
> To unsubscribe send a message
> to (normal mode) or
> to (digest mode)
> with "unsubscribe" word in the body of the message

This thread: