The Meireles surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 284 people carried this name — #69,170 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 1,000,000 people counted. That is up 43% from 198 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Meireles surname
A surname of toponymic origin.
Originating as a toponym of various places in Portugal called Meireles, from Old Galician-Portuguese meirelo, itself from Latin merula (“blackbird”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Meireles» (Portuguese), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
270 people named Meireles live in Switzerland.
They live in 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Geneva.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 77 people named Meireles live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Misiones.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 60 people named Meireles.
Most of them — 39 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 15 départements, most often Côtes-d’Armor.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In print
Meireles in American newspapers,
1880–1963.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 55 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Meireles,
with a public archive behind them.
-
António Augusto de Castro Meireles 1885–1942 · Catholic priest -
Cecília Meireles 1901–1964 · writer -
Cildo Meireles 1948– · artist -
Hildécio Meireles 1956– · public employee -
Adriano Meireles 1968– · politician -
Helena Meirelles 1924–2005 · composer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 34 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Meireles.
- Mei 7,867 · U.S. census
- Meier 25,486 · U.S. census
- Meil 172 · U.S. census
- Meiller 243 · U.S. census
- Meilleur 340 · U.S. census
- Meinhard 120 · U.S. census
- Meiser 1,565 · U.S. census
- Meiss 374 · U.S. census
- Meissner 4,097 · U.S. census
- Meister 7,885 · U.S. census
- Mejean 117 · U.S. census
- Mejias 4,472 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Meireles is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.