The Portela surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,330 people carried this name — #20,088 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 222,200 people counted. That is up 19% from 1,118 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Portela surname
Borrowed from Galician Portela (“mountain pass”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Portela» (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 3,743 people named Portela 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
168 people named Portela live in Switzerland.
They live in 14 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
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 55 people named Portela.
27 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 16 départements, most often Paris.
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
Portela in American newspapers,
1901–1943.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 4,527 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Portela,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Ireneo Portela 1802–1861 · physician -
Francisco Portela 1833–1913 · physician -
Manuel do Nascimento Machado Portela 1833–1895 · politician -
Epifanio Portela 1855–1916 · diplomat -
Francisco Portela Pérez 1864–1948 · journalist
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 86 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Portela.
- Port 2,800 · U.S. census
- Porta 1,461 · U.S. census
- Portal 1,100 · U.S. census
- Portales 1,578 · U.S. census
- Portas 171 · U.S. census
- Porte 744 · U.S. census
- Portella 349 · U.S. census
- Portelli 616 · U.S. census
- Portello 242 · U.S. census
- Porter 163,054 · U.S. census
- Porterie 122 · U.S. census
- Portes 686 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Portela 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.