WThe Abravanel family, also spelled as Abarbanel, Abrabanel, Avravanel, Barbernell, or Barbanel – literally meaning Ab ("father") rabban ("priest") el – is one of the oldest and most distinguished Jewish families. It first achieved prominence on the Iberian peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its members claim to trace their origin to the biblical King David. Members of this family lived in Seville, Córdoba, Castile-Leon, and Calatayud. Seville is where its most prominent representative, Don Judah Abravanel, once dwelt.
WAbreu is a Galician-Portuguese surname.
WAmaral is a Portuguese-language surname of toponymic origin, relatively common in Portugal and Brazil, amongst other countries. Its meaning probably comes from a plantation of a variety of grapes known as amara, used to produce wine, and the suffix -al denotes plantation. Amaral means a plantation of amaras.
WAndrade is a surname of Galician origin, which emerged in the 12th century as the family name of the knights and lords of the small parish of San Martiño de Andrade, in the municipality of Pontedeume. The first mention of this small territory is to be found in the documentation of the monastery of San Xoán de Caaveiro, and belong chronologically to the 9th century. It was part of the region of Pruzos, which was created as an administrative and ecclesiastical territory of Kingdom of Galicia in the sixth century by King Teodomiro through a document written in Latin called Parrochiale suevum, Parochiale suevorum or Theodomiri Divisio. From the 12th century Pruzos, and therefore Andrade, were integrated into the county of Trastámara that belonged to the lineage Traba, the most powerful Galician family. By this same time the family group: Fortúnez, begins to unite their names Andrade as surname, since in this parish their family home was located. The knights of Andrade were faithful vassals of their lords the Counts of Trastámara throughout the middle centuries of the Middle Ages.
WThe Benveniste family is an old, noble, wealthy, and scholarly Jewish family of Narbonne, France and northern Spain established in the 11th century. The family was present in the 11th to the 15th centuries in Hachmei Provence, France, Barcelona, Aragon and Castile Spain.
WCárdenas is a locational surname originated in La Rioja, Spain. It comes from a noble house of Viscay belonging to the low nobility. In Spain, Cárdenas is the 287th most frequently surname, accounting for 0.37% of the population. It is the 296th most popular surname in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia.
WLeón is a Spanish surname. A habitational name from León, a city in northwestern Spain, named with Latin legio, genitive legionis ‘legion’, a division of the Roman army. In Roman times the city was the garrison of the 7th Legion, known as the Legio Gemina. The city’s name became reduced from Legion(em) to Leon(em), and in this form developed an unetymological association with the word for ‘lion’, Spanish león. In Spanish it is also a nickname for a fierce or brave warrior, from león ‘lion’. Leon is also found as a Greek family name from Greek leon ‘lion’.
WMarcus is a masculine given name of Ancient Roman pre-Christian origin derived either from Etruscan Marce of unknown meaning or referring to the god Mars. Because Mars was identified as the Roman god of War, the name 'Marcus' can by extension be taken to refer to Ares in the Greek pantheon.
WPereira is a common surname in the Portuguese and Galician languages, a well known surname, quite common mostly in Portugal, the Galicia region of Spain, Brazil, other regions of the former Portuguese Empire, among Galician descendants in Spanish-speaking Latin America and by adoption also common among Sephardic Jews of Portuguese origin throughout the Sephardic Jewish diaspora. Currently, it is one of the most common surnames in South America and Europe.
WToledano is a family name derived from the city of Toledo, Spain. Bearers of the name can be found mainly in Spanish-speaking countries, the United States, France, Canada, Israel, and Australia. Among Mizrahi Jews, and in particular Sephardi Jews in their various diasporas, the Toledano surname is still prevalent, indicating an ancestry traced back to Toledo, Spain. The Toledano name was also retained among non-Jews in various Spanish-speaking countries.