Silva

Silva, da Silva, and de Silva are surnames of Portuguese or Galician origin which are widespread in the Portuguese-speaking countries and Brazil. The name is derived from Latin ("forest" or "woodland"). It is the family name of the House of Silva.

The name is widespread in Galician-speaking regions of Spain (mostly in Galicia) and even more so in regions of the former Portuguese Empire in the Americas (being the most common surname in Brazil), in Africa and Asia, notably in India and Sri Lanka. It is also quite common in Spanish-speaking Latin America.

Movement of people has led to the name being used in many places. Due to emigration from Portuguese-speaking countries, Silva (and the variants Da Silva and De Silva) is the fifth most common surname in the French department of Val-de-Marne, outside Paris, and it was the 19th most common family name given to newborns between 1966 and 1990 in France.

Notable people and characters with these names include the following. Provided by Wikipedia