Pereira (surname)

Pereira is a common surname in the Portuguese and Galician as well as Sephardic languages, namely in Portugal and Galicia. It was originally a noble Christian toponym of the Middle Ages, taken from the feudal possession of Pereira (Barcelos), which in Portuguese means 'pear tree'. The name also exists in variations such as Pereyra, Perera, Perreira, Pereiro and others. In Portugal there are some families with variations of the name although Pereira is by far the most common. The variants of this name are more commonly found in other countries such as Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, India (specifically Goa), and Sri Lanka. Pereire, for example, is a French variant. Many Portuguese immigrants to the United States, especially Massachusetts, chose to "Americanize" their surname to Perry.