Find out how popular the last name Neves is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Neves.

Neves, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Neves surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Neves in America

Neves is the 6748th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Neves surname appeared 4,997 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Neves.

We can also compare 2010 data for Neves to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Neves

The surname NEVES originated in Portugal and Spain. It is derived from the Portuguese word "neve" meaning "snow" and refers to someone who lived near snowy mountains or had a connection to snow. The earliest recorded spelling of the name was "Neves" in the 13th century.

The name first appeared in historical records in the Livro Velho de Linhagens, a 14th-century Portuguese book of lineages. It was mentioned in reference to Gonçalo Neves, a knight who fought in the Reconquista against the Moors in the 12th century.

In the 15th century, the NEVES surname was found in the town of Neves, located in the Bragança District of northeastern Portugal. This town likely took its name from the surrounding snowy mountains, and the surname may have originated there.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the NEVES surname was João Neves, a Portuguese navigator who lived in the late 15th century. He accompanied Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India in 1497-1499.

In the 16th century, Pedro Neves (1530-1612) was a Spanish-born Catholic priest who served as a missionary in Paraguay and Argentina. He helped establish the Jesuit Reductions among the Guarani people.

In the 17th century, Francisco Neves (1615-1686) was a Portuguese painter and architect who worked primarily in Lisbon. He is best known for his work on the Igreja da Graça church.

In the 19th century, José Neves (1820-1897) was a Portuguese politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1891 to 1892.

The NEVES surname spread from Portugal and Spain to other parts of the world through emigration and colonization, particularly to Brazil, where it is also a common surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Neves

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Neves.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Neves was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Neves has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Neves was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Neves, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!