Re: Origin of Oliveira and DeOliveira name
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In reply to:
Re: Origin of Oliveira and DeOliveira name
A. Thomas Oliveira 6/02/08
Hello, distant cousin
My name is Jônatas Ricardo de Oliveira, from Araçatuba, São Paulo state, Brazil.
I'm descendant of the Oliveira family on my father's and my mother's part. Information about our family can be found in a very interesting book: "Dicionário Sefaradi de Sobrenomes" (written in Portuguese) at www.sefer.com.br. More information about Oliveira family is found at www.genebase.com. According to the family's tradition, the Oliveiras are a Levite family that first settled down in Girona, Catalunia, prior to the 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem. They were originally from Ramatayim Tzofim (today Rantis, West Bank), about 20 miles north of Jerusalem. It is said that we belong to the clan of Samuel, the prophet, that is, the Izharite family, levites. At first, the family's identification was Levy. Then it changed into BENVENISTE. From Girona they moved to Oliva Cavia, Spain, and then to north of Portugal. There, according to genealogical data, they changed their surname to OLIVEIRA, because it is quite an acronym, that is, oLiVeYra (Oliveira) for Levy. Oliveira means "Olive tree" in Portuguese, and Izhar (Yitzhar), the family's patriarch, son of Qehat, son of Levy, son of Isaac, son of Abraham, Izhar in Hebrew means "pure olive oil". The surname Oliveira was really appropriate to remind them of their roots. This is explained in the section "articles" at www.genebase.com. and literature demonstrating the data are shown there. Here in Brazil we are not Jews, we are Christians. There are several stories related to Inquisition and Oliveiras being forced to convert themselves to Christendom. Although most Brazilian Oliveiras are Christians, many have been preserving Jewish habits unaware, learned from grandparents. At least in Brazil, we are sure about our Jewish roots.
I hope you enjoy investigating your origins!
Best Regards,
Jônatas Ricardo de Oliveira
More Replies:
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Re: Origin of Oliveira and DeOliveira name
Gabriel Olivera 9/24/11
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Re: Origin of Oliveira and DeOliveira name
Christine D'Souza 8/12/11