Olivera
A surname tied to the olive tree, likely used for someone living near olive groves or from a place named for olives.
The #3,896 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,898 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Olivera is a Spanish surname built on the word for an olive tree or olive grove. It ultimately goes back to Latin oliva, meaning “olive,” and in surname use it could point to a place with olive trees or to someone identified by that landscape feature. In some cases it may also overlap with related forms built from the same root, such as Oliva and Olivas.
History
The surname is most at home in the Spanish-speaking world, where olive-related place names and farm landscapes made this a natural surname source. It is also found in the Americas through Spanish colonial and later migration patterns. Modern bearers may come from several independent family lines, since similar olive-based surnames could arise in more than one place.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The olive has been such a strong Mediterranean symbol that many surnames from Spanish come from it in one form or another.
From the historical record
“Olivas. Plural de oliva. Olivera. Olivo. Olivillo. Olivo enano. Olivo. Arbol que produce la aceituna.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos