The Perera surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,242 people carried this name — #7,801 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 69,400 people counted. That is up 46% from 2,909 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Perera surname
Borrowed from Spanish (cognate with Portuguese Pereira and Galician Pereira), or from Sinhalese පෙරේරා (perērā).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Perera» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 943 people named Perera 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 Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
226 people named Perera live in Switzerland.
They live in 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 110 people named Perera.
37 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 19 départements, most often Doubs.
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 the Nordic population registers
184 people named Perera are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Who carried it
People named Perera,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Guillermo Perera y Álvarez 1865–1926 · author -
Paco Perera 1901– · musician -
Leon Perera 1970– · politician -
Sasha Perera 1979– · writer -
Franck Perera 1984– · racing automobile driver -
Pietro Perera 1864–1930 · lawyer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 105 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Perera.
- Pereau 119 · U.S. census
- Perego 314 · U.S. census
- Pereira 29,898 · U.S. census
- Perel 413 · U.S. census
- Perelli 272 · U.S. census
- Perello 366 · U.S. census
- Peres 5,294 · U.S. census
- Peret 256 · U.S. census
- Peretti 657 · U.S. census
- Peretto 189 · U.S. census
- Perey 205 · U.S. census
- Perez 681,645 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Perera 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.