Part II in a two part series on Portugal brought to you by our generous reader Rita. Even if you have no Portuguese heritage, this could still be a fantastic source of inspiration.
Examples of fashionable names:
Afonso*
Alexandre [al-SHUNDR]
Álvaro
André
António
Bernardo [ber-NAHR-doo]
Carlos
Dinis* [dee-NEESH]
Duarte
Eduardo
Francisco
Fredrico
Gabriel [ga-bree-EHL]
Guilherme [ghee-LYEHRM]
Gonçalo [gon-SAH-loo]
Gustavo* [goosh-TAH-voo]
Henrique [en-REEK]
Joaquim [zhoo-a-KEEM]
Jorge [ZHORZH]
Luís [loo-EESH]
Lourenço
Leonardo
Lucas
Mateus [ma-TEHOOSH]
Matias [ma-TEE-ash]
Manuel [ma-noo-ELL]
Miguel
Pedro
Ricardo
Rafael
Salvador
Santiago*
Simão
Sebastião* [se-BUSH-tee-ao]
Vasco
Vincente
Xavier* [sha-vee-ERH]
Alexandra [al-SHUN-dra]
Alice* [a-LEES]
Bárbara
Benedita
Carlota
Carolina [ka-roo-LEE-na]
Catarina
Constança [consh-TUN-sa]
Diana [dee-a-na]
Eduarda
Filipa
Francisca [frun-CEESH-ka]
Guiomar [ghee-oo-MAHR]
Helena [eh-LEN-a]
Inês [ee-NESH]
Joana [zhoo-a-na]
Laura [LAHU-ra]
Luz* [LOOSH] – also the word for “light”
Marta
Mafalda
Madalena [ma-da-LEN-a]
Margarida - also the word for “daisy”
Rita
Sofia
Sancha* [SUN-sha]
Teresa [TREH-za]
Vera [VEH-ra]
Vitória* [vee-TAW-rya] – also the word for “victory”
Violeta* [vee-oo-LET-a] – also the word for “violet”
* Indicates recent celebrity babies.
Examples of trendy / modern names:
Bruno, Fábio, Rúben, Sandro, Igor, Joel, Leandro, Márcio, Nélson , Isaac, Saúl, Danilo, Mauro.
Cátia, Tânia, Carina, Bruna, Andreia, Carla, Luana, Natacha, Marisa, Soraia, Priscila, Iara.
Examples of old-fashioned / dated names:
Adelaide, Arminda, Alzira, Arlete, Cândida, Cremilde, Dores, Ermelinda, Filomena, Hermínia, Isaura, Gertrudes, Gracinda, Lurdes, Natércia, Noémia, Paula, Zulmira.
Alfredo, Augusto, Aurélio, Avelino, Casimiro, César, Eugénio, Eusébio, Gervásio, Hélder, Horácio, Marcelo, Leopoldo, Lúcio, Olegário, Nicolau, Teófilo, Ulisses.
Brief pronunciation guide:
The worst mistake one can make when pronouncing Portuguese names is saying as if they were Spanish. Actually, Portuguese phonetic is much more similar to French and even English.
The stress is usually in the penultimate syllable, except when there’s a diacritic (é, á, ê).
Unstressed a is “uh” (as in mum). a turns to “ah” (as in father) in a stressed syllable.
Unstressed e is mute (as in table). In a stressed syllable it sounds like “eh” (as in never) or “é” (this sound doesn’t exist in English, though it tends to be pronounced as “ay”).
Unstressed o sounds like “oo” (as in two). In a stressed syllable it sounds like “oh” (as in cold) or “aw” (as in not).
Final s or z sounds like a soft “sh” (as in closure).
ã means a nasal sound (as in encore or sunk).
j sounds like “zh” (unlike Spanish)
ç sounds like “s” (as in messy).
ou sounds like “oh” (as in toe).
au sounds like “ou” (as in now).
h is mute (except in combinations like lh or ch).
x is almost always sh (as in shoe).
Final im indicates a nasal sound, as in sing.
Useful links:
List of Admitted Given Names
Portuguese names in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_name
Behind the Name
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/por.php
Above: A favorite Portuguese export, the Rosa Pomar doll.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
This is interesting. I particularly like these:
Alexandre [al-SHUNDR-I love the way its pronounced. So beautiful
Duarte
Gabriel
Gonçalo
Joaquim
Leonardo
Mateus [ma-TEHOOSH]-interesting, this almost looks the same as it is pronounced in Polish, Mateusz (mah-TAY-oosh)
Matias
Santiago
Simão
Sebastião
Vasco
Xavier
Alexandra [al-SHUN-dra)
Carlota
Constança
Filipa
Francisca
Inês
Luz-gorgeous! I adore the Portuguese pronunciation
Mafalda
Rita
Sofia
Sancha-so pretty
Vera
Violeta
I find it interesting that these would be considered trendy or modern. I find many of these quite old fashioned, but I guess perceptions change from culture to culture.
Bruno
Fábio
Rúben
Mauro
I also really like all of the above. I can definitely see how some of the female names could be considered trendy or modern. From that list I like:
Cátia
Bruna
Natacha
Soraia
I adore these dated names:
Cremilde
Filomena
Isaura
Lurdes
Natércia-this is interesting, how do you say it and do you know the origin or meaning?
Noémia
Casimiro
Nicolau
Ulisses
Natércia is a name created by Luís de Camões (the greatest Portuguese poet) – it’s an anagram of Caterina, an old form of Catarina.
Wow. It makes all the difference to refer to the pronunciation guide when examining these lists of names! We have here quite a treasure trove. I love so many of them:
Mauro
Alvaro
Antonio
Dinis
Duarte
Goncalo
Gustavo
Lourenco
Mateus
Santiago
Sebastiao
Simao
Vasco
Alice
Benedita
Constanca
Guiomar
Helena
Ines
Joana
Laura
Luz
Margarida
Rita
Sancha
Violeta
Some of the Trendies:
Mauro
Saul
Marisa
Soraia
And some of the Oldies are Goodies to me:
Augusto
Aurelio
Cesar
Lucio
Ulisses
Adelaide
Arminda
Filomena
Herminia
Natercia
Noemia
A
I like:
Álvaro
André
António
Carlos
Eduardo
Lourenço
Lucas
Matias [ma-TEE-ash]
Miguel
Santiago*
Sebastião* [se-BUSH-tee-ao]
Alice* [a-LEES]
Carolina [ka-roo-LEE-na]
Constança [consh-TUN-sa]
Helena [eh-LEN-a]
Madalena [ma-da-LEN-a]
Violeta* [vee-oo-LET-a] – also the word for “violet”
And thank you for the pronunciation guide. It really makes a difference.
Thank you Rita for sharing such in-depth insight in Portuguese names, and thank you Elisabeth for having this on your blog! I love learning more about names from other cultures.
There are so many fantastic names! I especially loved the old-fashioned names, as well as familiar names with the Portuguese pronounciation.
I’m not going to name all the ones I like, because that would be too many. Here are the top five for each gender that shone the most for me.
Sancha
Zulmira
Filomena
Alzira
Cremilde
Avelino
Xavier
Joaquim
Bernardo
Teófilo
I’m finding so much inspiration here. Duarte, Gustavo, Joachim, Lourenço. Constança, Ines, Mafalda, Violeta, and many of the modern and old-fashioned ones too!
Tell me Rita, do any Gustavos use the nickname Stavo?
No, I don’t think so. The common nickname for Gustavo is Guga.
Rita, I just want to tell you how glad I am that you divided the names into fashionable, modern and old-fashioned. As an outsider, these names drift seamlessly into one another and I would have no idea that Noemia was considered “old-fashioned” and Priscila trendy. It really illuminates our understanding of the names, though if you’re not actually planning on living in Portugal I suppose it doesn’t matter so much.
Thanks! I think it’s really interesting how the perception we have of names changes from culture to culture.
Both articles are great, thanks Rita. I’m an American married to a Portuguese man (Nuno) who grew up primarily in Canada. We named our boys Portuguese names; Diogo and Cruz Augusto. I am due next month, and this time we will need a girls name. I really love Beatriz, but concerned about how it will be pronounced here in the US. I’ve seen that the nickname is Bia. How is that pronounced?
Bia (or Bea) is pronounced [BEE-uh], like the first two sylables of Beatriz.