Alves
A Scottish surname linked to the parish of Alves in Elginshire, later also found more widely through migration.
The #2,595 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,241 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally taken from the parish of Alves in Elginshire, Scotland, so it is a habitational or locational name for someone who came from that place. The place-name itself is thought to be older than the surname, but the exact root of the parish name is not firmly settled in the excerpts provided. In practice, the surname functions as a simple geographic identifier: 'of Alves.'
History
The Anderson excerpt explicitly connects the surname to the parish of Alves in Elginshire and also notes Robert Alves, an 18th-century poet born at Elgin. As a Scottish place-based surname, it would have spread beyond Moray through ordinary internal movement and later emigration. In English-speaking countries it is also sometimes confused with or recorded alongside similar forms such as Alvis and Alvord.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Robert Alves, a bearer of the name, was an 18th-century Scottish poet from Elgin.
From the historical record
“that name. ALVES, KoBERT, a minor poet, was bom at Elgin in 1745, and studied at Aberdeen, where he took his degrees of philosophy in 1766. Hig poetical talents gained him the friendship of Dr. Beattie and other gentlemen of literary tastes. He afterwards became parish schoolmaster at Desk- ford, and in 1773…”
— The Scottish Nation; or, the surnames, families ... of the people of Scotland, vol. 1Notable people named Alves
- Dani Alves (b. 1983)
- Bruno Alves (b. 1981)
- Eduardo (b. 1983)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.