The Saraiva surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 677 people carried this name — #33,645 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 434,800 people counted. That is up 15% from 590 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Saraiva surname
From saraiva (“hail”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Saraiva» (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
489 people named Saraiva live in Switzerland.
They live in 19 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 127 people named Saraiva.
Most of them — 92 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 21 départements, most often Yvelines.
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 Argentina’s national register
At least 106 people named Saraiva 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.
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 print
Saraiva in American newspapers,
1893–1904.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 900 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Saraiva,
with a public archive behind them.
-
António Ribeiro Saraiva 1800–1890 · writer -
Gumercindo Saraiva 1852–1894 · military personnel -
Jesuína Saraiva 1865–1947 · actor -
Alberto Rocha Saraiva 1886–1946 · politician -
José Hermano Saraiva 1919–2012 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 97 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Saraiva.
- Sappe 171 · U.S. census
- Sar 1,091 · U.S. census
- Sara 1,064 · U.S. census
- Saracco 527 · U.S. census
- Saracino 846 · U.S. census
- Sarafian 410 · U.S. census
- Sarasin 392 · U.S. census
- Sarazin 509 · U.S. census
- Sard 202 · U.S. census
- Sarda 324 · U.S. census
- Sardella 517 · U.S. census
- Sardi 294 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Saraiva 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.