Names in my country
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:21 pmCommon names in my country
I was born in Angola which was one of the Portuguese colonies. Portuguese people stayed in Angola for about 500 years; therefore the common names are Portuguese ones such as Maria, Isabel, Antonio, José, João, etc.
My family name is Barreto and although it is a Portuguese family name it is not common in Angola neither in Portugal. But both, my first name and my family name are from Portuguese names, they clear tell that I’m from Portuguese origin.
My first name is Maria and the second Lourdes; I think that they are only personal names with no any other meaning behind. But there are some names in my country that refers to professions such as Carpenter, the person who prepares wood. What is really very common is that Portuguese family names represent fruit trees, like Pereira, Macieira, Silva, Moreira, or other trees or plants like Carvalho, Silveira. In addition to that first names refer to flowers, Rosa, Margarida, Dalia, or cereals as wheat.
Since Angola’s independency from Portuguese, we started to have a lot of influence from other countries from west Europe, Brazil, and therefore the use of their names was obviously unavoidable, some examples are: Vladimir, Ivanovich, Yuri, Yanik, Zoia from Russia and Edson, Carlão, Tatiana, Iris, etc.
In Portuguese and Angolan cultural it is common to use the tiles and surname when we meet a person for the first time, Dr. Silva, Eng. Borges, or Mr. Carvalho, Madame Barreto. We only call a person for the first name when she or he is a close friend or if the person asks to call him or her for the first name.
We also use pet names such as darling, dear, chocolate, sweet, etc, with people that are very close to us, family members and very close friends.
I was born in Angola which was one of the Portuguese colonies. Portuguese people stayed in Angola for about 500 years; therefore the common names are Portuguese ones such as Maria, Isabel, Antonio, José, João, etc.
My family name is Barreto and although it is a Portuguese family name it is not common in Angola neither in Portugal. But both, my first name and my family name are from Portuguese names, they clear tell that I’m from Portuguese origin.
My first name is Maria and the second Lourdes; I think that they are only personal names with no any other meaning behind. But there are some names in my country that refers to professions such as Carpenter, the person who prepares wood. What is really very common is that Portuguese family names represent fruit trees, like Pereira, Macieira, Silva, Moreira, or other trees or plants like Carvalho, Silveira. In addition to that first names refer to flowers, Rosa, Margarida, Dalia, or cereals as wheat.
Since Angola’s independency from Portuguese, we started to have a lot of influence from other countries from west Europe, Brazil, and therefore the use of their names was obviously unavoidable, some examples are: Vladimir, Ivanovich, Yuri, Yanik, Zoia from Russia and Edson, Carlão, Tatiana, Iris, etc.
In Portuguese and Angolan cultural it is common to use the tiles and surname when we meet a person for the first time, Dr. Silva, Eng. Borges, or Mr. Carvalho, Madame Barreto. We only call a person for the first name when she or he is a close friend or if the person asks to call him or her for the first name.
We also use pet names such as darling, dear, chocolate, sweet, etc, with people that are very close to us, family members and very close friends.