The Souza surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 22,373 people carried this name — #1,601 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 13,200 people counted. That is up 11% from 20,168 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Souza surname
A surname; variation or dated form of Sousa.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Souza» (Portuguese), 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 3,215 people named Souza 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
427 people named Souza live in Switzerland.
They live in 19 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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 68 people named Souza.
18 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 19 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 the Nordic population registers
30 people named Souza is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
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).
In print
Souza in American newspapers,
1821–1893.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 13,384 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Souza,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Sofia Martins de Souza 1870–1960 · painter -
Amadeo de Souza Cardoso 1887–1918 · artist -
Odette de Carvalho e Souza 1904–1964 · diplomat -
Renato Bião 1912–1999 · civil servant -
Santo Souza 1919–2014 · writer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 264 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Souza.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Souza 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.