Pessoa Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Pessoa last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Pessoa last name
Meaning of the Pessoa last name: person. Pessoa is a Portuguese surname from pessoa, "person", a medieval nickname whose exact sense is unclear, perhaps for a person of standing. The last name is found in Portugal and Brazil. Curiously, the poet Fernando Pessoa wrote under dozens of other names, which he called heteronyms.
Arms associated with the Pessoa name
In Portugal and Brazil a coat of arms often goes with a family name, and heraldry associated with the Pessoa surname follows that custom.
Get your full Pessoa family history
This is only a glimpse of the Pessoa story. The full Pessoa history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Pessoa coat of arms. Get the full Pessoa report.
Pessoa name FAQ
What does the Pessoa name mean?
Person. Common variants include Pessôa.
Where does the Pessoa surname come from?
It originates in Portugal, and is also found in Brazil and the United States.
Is there a Pessoa coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Pessoa coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: José Pedro Machado, Dicionário Onomástico Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (Lisboa, 1984); Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).