SURNAMES OF KONKNNIS

SURNAMES OF KONKNNIS

Before the arrival of the Portuguese, there was no territory called Goa, but only Govāpuri (City of Goa), now known as Old Goa. The Portuguese conquered the City of Goa from Yusuf Adil Shah on November 25, 1510. In 1543, the Portuguese conquered Bardes and Salcette from Adil Shah.

The three areas or talukas—Ilhas (Tiswadi, 30 villages), Bardes (12 villages), and Salcette (66 villages), including Mormugão—were known as the Velhas Conquistas, or Old Conquests. The New Conquests, or Novas Conquistas, were added to the Portuguese administration between 1740 and 1788. In 1791, the present political territory of Goa came into existence. The Portuguese ruled Goa until 1961. On December 19, 1961, the Government of India liberated Goa from Portuguese rule.

Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and animists were converted to Catholicism. To keep the new converts away from their earlier religions, the Portuguese gave them Christian names such as Pedro, Paulo, Antonio, Carmelina, and others.

During the baptism of a Catholic, a godfather or godmother is required. On a particular day, if the godfather’s surname was Fernandes, all those baptised on that day were given the surname “Fernandes”, irrespective of their previous social status.

Konknni Catholics migrated to Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, and other places. They retained their identity through their Portuguese surnames. Some Portuguese surnames use the prepositions da, de, do, and dos, meaning “of” or “from”, as in Pedro de Souza.

The surnames of Catholic Konknnis (Konknni speakers) are of Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, English, and local origins. Portuguese surnames are also found among Mumbai’s East Indian Catholics; Latin-rite Catholics of Kerala; and Catholics of Daman, Diu, Korlai (Chaul), Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Silvassa, West Bengal, and coastal Tamil Nadu.

Portuguese surnames are also common in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Angola, Macao, Guinea, East Timor, Mozambique, and other Lusophone countries.

Below, I have given the meaning of each surname wherever it was available. Sometimes, more than one meaning is found. In such cases, I have selected one of the meanings. For various reasons, spelling variants are found. I have included the spelling variants found in Goa and Karnataka.

In the following list, besides surnames of Portuguese origin found in India, I have included a few additional Portuguese surnames that may not be found in India.

I first compiled this list of surnames in 2005 and published it in the Konknni orthography books brought out by Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr, Alto Porvorim; Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, Mangaluru; and Dalgado Konknni Akademi, Goa. The list has subsequently been updated several times. I have now revised and re-edited it again.

I cannot claim that this list is exhaustive as far as Portuguese-origin surnames in India are concerned.

Surnames and Meanings

Anglicised Surnames

Bibliography

• Dalgado, Sebastião Rodolpho. 1905; AES Reprint, 1986. Diccionario Portuguez-Komkaní. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
• Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges. 1990. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Lacerda, D. José de. 1871. A New Dictionary of the Portuguese and English Languages. Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional.
• Dicionário de Português Inglês. 1998. Porto: Porto Editora.
• Momiunction: https://www.momiunction.com
• Familv Education: https://www.familveducation.com
• FirstCry Parenting: https://parenting.firstcry.com
• NamesLook: https://www.nameslook.com