Latin America
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Non-Iberian Colonial Surnames and Families in Latin America
I've found out that the surname Bettencourt and variants is present in Hispanic American countries and has its origins in a French explorer and his family who had expeditions in the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores and later the surname spread to Latin America, including to Brazil.
In Brazil we have a few other family names that are now considered "Portuguese" even despite some of them sounding "off". Many of them are traced back to the Flemish settlements in the Azores (so they might be more common in regions that received many Portuguese from the islands), for instance:
Some branches of the Silveira family descend from Willem van der Haegen, where Haegen/Haagen got translated to Silveira;
People with the last name Terra who are descendants of Josse van Aertrycke, notice that Aert is cognate with Earth;
Brum is derived from Wilhelm van der Bruyn;
Dutra is traced back to Josse van Huerter, also known as Joost de Hurtere;
Leme comes from Maarten Lem.
I've also read claims that Borges originates either from van den Berghe or from the city of Bourges and that some da Rosa families arose from van der Roos but I couldn't find evidence for them.
There's also the surname Goulart which either stems from Flemish (Govaert, Gouilward or Hoeilaart) or French (Goulard).
Futhermore, the Cavalcanti are related to an Italian family who moved to Portugal before coming to Brazil in colonial times. Meanwhile, the Doria clan helped financing both the Portuguese and Spanish navigations so I expect them to be present in Hispanic America as well.
Which non-Iberian families have been present in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries since colonial times? Are they seem as Iberian or not?
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Originally Posted by Beowulf
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