Ferreira (Latin ferraria and ferrus) is a Portuguese and Galician toponymic and occupational surname, meaning "iron mine" (name of several locations in Portugal) and also the feminine variant of "blacksmith" ("ferreiro"), related to ironworks.
The variants Ferreiro, Ferreiró, Ferreiros, Ferro, or Ferraria are less common. Like Smith in English or Schmidt in German,[1] Favre in France, Kovalenko in Ukraine, Kuznetsov in Russia, Ferrari in Italy, Kowalski in Poland, this Portuguese equivalent surname is one of the most common in the country. This surname exists mainly in Lusophone countries, South Africa,[2] and also, via Galician migration, in Spanish speaking countries and numerous other nations around the world.