Mary, I have several "o Galego" too. It may have been used as a nickname for someone that worked really hard (trabalhar como um Galego). One of my ancestors was "o Galego" because he was born in a (portuguese) village real close to the Northern border, i.e., near Galicia. Luis already told you about GALEGO and PERA, but she left the best part for me! :-) You may translate Couto in several ways. In the middle Ages it was the land owned by a noble (cottage?) - that's where another portuguese name came from (Coutinho - little Couto); it may also be a protected area; it also is a arm or leg (when you miss a hand or foot); Couto is a common family name in Portugal. You are absolutely right!! People should not assume they are Jews just because of their family names. It's just like saying you, Mary, are Jewish and I (Luis) am German because of our names (Maria & Ludwig). :-) If you have Pereira and Sampaio names you probably DO NOT descend from Jews. :-) Most of them changed their names into the most common portuguese names, the patronymics: Gonçalves (formerly, son of Gonçalo); Fernandes (son of Fernando); Nunes (son of Nunes); Rodrigues (son of Rodrigo), etc. But, as the Jews wanted to mingle in the society - and confuse the Inquisition? -, it might happen that the son of a "Gonçalves" and a "Nunes" had a completely different family name, coming out of nowhere, like "Castro", or "Magalhaes". Some authors say that, when King Manuel ordered the Jews to quit Portugal - unless they became christians - there were over 100.000 Jews in a population of about 1,000,000. As they were not allowed to cross Spain, and the vessels in those times were not prepared to carry douzains of passengers, the great majority remained in Portugal... and, after some generations, they almost disappeared - mingled! Besides, in those times church records were NOT mandatory. It only became mandatory by the end of the next century, i.e., a couple of generations later. (UN-)Fortunately, many new-christians maintained their identity, but I believe that most of them simply "disappeared" in the portuguese society. The only way you can BE SURE your ancient ancestor was a Jew, if all the others are catholic, is when you find a note in a marriage record saying that one of them (groom or bride) is a new-christian (cristao-novo, or simply xn) - opposed to old-christian (cristao-velho, or xv). I recently wrote a post saying that I ONLY found one out of 262,144 17xgrandparents was a "new-christian". Even her was not a "pure" Jew, since the records go to her grandparents and only 1 of the 4 is "xn", all the others are "xv". So, I should say that from my 1,048,576 19xgrandparents, I only found one x.n. BTW. "Moura" does not mean the first of the line was a moorish. There are lots of different families called MOURA because it's a toponymic! There's a village called Moura. Luis K W Lisboa_Portugal ---------------------- MENSAGEM ORIGINAL ---------------------- Galego - someone from Galiza (spain) Couto-It is a last name too but I am not sure what they mean when they call it to someone. Luis KW might Pêra- means pear, they guy might have had a pear orchard, or he might have had a beard just on the chin area. Luis Beal tiamaria tiamaria@frostdesign.com wrote: This is a question for the group regarding the various "nicknames" and other attachments I have seen while researching my family. I have found some descriptives that I can understand, ie: o rico, o pequeno. Sometimes words appear that I know are occupations; ie: pescador, lavrador, etc. However- does anyone know what "O Couto" is? or - "O Pera"? Also- someone in my line is "O gallego". I could not find that in a Portuguese dictionary. (Unfortunately I can only seem to find Brazilian Portuguese dictionaries!) I know in Spanish a "Gallego" can be a slang term for a Spaniard, or it can mean specifically a Galician or Castilian, or that it can sometimes be used in a derisive manner, depending on context. Any ideas? BTW- since I have once again seen references to Sephardic ancestry, that certain family names (Pereira,Sampaio) MAY indicate it- how does one REALLY know? I mean- these people are long dead. But what makes people so sure that their ancestors were indeed jewish? Now- I have found some people in my line who were Pardo- which I understand means mulatto and Moura- moorish. So it would appear that I have black and moorish ancestors. But the point in question- is there something in the various records that defines jewish heritage? If people are simply basing belief on family surnames- well that is liking saying everyone whose last name ends in -stein is jewish because a lot of German jews used names ending in -stein. I love this forum! It is great for exchanging ideas and information. MAry da Silva Frost