Da Silva
A Portuguese surname meaning “of the wood” or “from the forest.”
The #1,767 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,181 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Da Silva is Portuguese and comes from the phrase da silva, meaning “of the wood” or “of the thicket.” The core word silva is Latin for “wood,” “forest,” or “wild growth.” In surname use, it likely began as a descriptive name for someone associated with a wooded place or living near woodland.
History
The surname is especially common in Portugal and across the Portuguese-speaking world, where it spread through migration and colonial history. It is one of the best-known Portuguese surnames and is often encountered in Brazil as well as in older Iberian records. Historical surname writers also treated it as a clear toponymic or locational formation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because da means “of the,” Silva is one of those surnames that still reads like a little phrase rather than a single word.
From the historical record
“DANTE (Ital.) contr. of Durante, q.v. DASILVA 1 (Portug.) Of the Wood [Lat. DA SILVA f silva, a wood, thicket] DEFRAINE 1 (Fr.) Of (the) Ash-Tree fFr, DE FRAINE | /r^«e, Lat ./ra.r!w-«x, an ash-tree] DE JONG (Dut.) Xhe Young(er [Dul. de, the -f jong, young(er] DELACROIX "I (Fr.) Of the Cross [Lat.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)