Show ContentsVieira History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Portuguese surname Vieira is derived from a place-name. The name probably arose independently from several different places names including Vieira do Minho, and Vieira de Leiria. The place-name is derived from the Portuguese word "vieira, " which means " escallop" or "shell."

Early Origins of the Vieira family

The surname Vieira was first found in the Minho province, North-Western Portugal, where Rui Vieira was a nobleman in the times of kings D. Afonso II and D. Sancho II of Portugal (circa 1220).

Early History of the Vieira family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Vieira research. Another 23 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1245, 1608, 1658, 1661, 1682, 1697 and 1745 are included under the topic Early Vieira History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Vieira Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Vieira, Vieiras, Viera and others.

Early Notables of the Vieira family

Prominent members of the family include

  • Father Antonio Vieira (1608-1697) a Portuguese Jesuit orator and missionary...
  • João Fernandes Vieira was the Governor of Angola from 1658-1661...
  • António Manuel de Vieira, known in Russia as Count Anton Manuilovich Devier (c.1682-1745), was one of Peter I's foreign associates, who proved to be an efficient administrator in St Petersburg and Sib...

Vieira Ranking

In the United States, the name Vieira is the 4,587th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Vieira is ranked the 1,230th most popular surname with an estimated 4,555 people with that name. 2


Vieira migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Vieira Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Joaquim S. Vieira, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1848
  • Manuel Vieira, who was on record in California in 1860
  • Antonio Vieira, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1867 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Vieira (post 1700) +

  • Ana Vieira (1940-2016), Portuguese artist
  • Cláudia Patrícia Figueira Vieira (b. 1978), Portuguese actress, model and television presenter
  • Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira GOSE, GCIH (b. 1933), Portuguese architect, and architectural educator
  • Alice Vieira (b. 1943), Portuguese children's book author
  • Luís Filipe Vieira (b. 1949), Portuguese footballer
  • Leonel Vieira (b. 1969), Portuguese film director
  • Vasco Rocha Vieira (b. 1939), Portuguese administrator and army officer, Governor of Macau 1991-99
  • Sérgio Vieira (1941-2021), Mozambican politician and poet, Director of the Department of Education and Culture at Frelimo, Governor of Banco de Moçambique (Bank of Mozambique) and Minister of Security and of Agriculture
  • Jussiê Ferreira Vieira (b. 1983), commonly known as Jussiê, is a Brazilian footballer
  • João Bernardo "Nino" Vieira (1939-2009), President of Guinea-Bissau from 1980 to 1984
  • ... (Another 5 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

USS Arizona
  • Mr. Alvaro Everett Vieira, American Seaman Second Class from Rhode Island, USA working aboard the ship "USS Arizona" when she sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, he died in the sinking 4


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  4. Pearl Harbour: USS Arizona Casualties List Pearl Harbour December 7, 1941. (Retrieved 2018, July 31st). Retrieved from http://pearl-harbor.com/arizona/casualtylist.html


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