What is the origin of the last name Eanes?

Answer 1

The origin of the surname Eanes is Sephardic-Jewish. The Sephardic or (plural) Sephardim are the sector of Jews who lived in namely Portugal and Spain. The Sephardim have a long history in the Iberian Peninsula, before their expulsion.

Eanes means "son of John or Yohanan". In the original Hebrew form, this name is titled 'Ben Yohanan'. Other variations of this Sephardic name also include Yanez and Annyas; while its Ashkenazic Jewish counterparts include, Yohanan and Hans, all meaning "son of Yohanan.' Yohanan in Hebrew means 'God is gracious'. In Ladino (the Jewish dialect of Spanish and Portuguese), Eanes is pronounced like "Ya-nes" or "Ya-ha-nes", short of "Yohanan". By corruption of pronunciation, the surname Eanes today in America is pronounced like "EE-nz".

Many Sephardic Jewish names end with either "ez" or "es" meaning "son of". Following the old Hebrew naming custom, a child's last name was taken from the first name of the father. For instance, if a child's father whose name was Yohanan, the surname of his children would be Ben Yohanan, son of Yohanan.

The Eanes family originates from Jewish communities in Portugal such as Lisbon, Oporto, and the Azores.