Frequency: (7951)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Spanish (Ávila): habitational name from Ávila in old Castile. Its name, first recorded in the Latin forms Avela and Abulia, is of unknown derivation and meaning.
2. Portuguese and Galician: from Davila, a topographic name for someone from a town or village, da vila, reinterpreted as d’Avila.
GIVEN NAMES: Spanish 47%; Portuguese 11%. Jose (211), Manuel (123), Juan (71), Francisco (69), Luis (67), Jesus (65), Carlos (59), Pedro (49), Jorge (48), Miguel (43), Armando (39), Javier (37); Ligia (3), Joaquim (2), Guilherme, Henrique, Joao, Paulo, Vasco.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
