# Portela (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/portela/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Galician.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Galician |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,330 |
| US rank (2010) | 20,088 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 232,140 people |
| Change since 2000 | +19% (1,118 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Galician Portela (“mountain pass”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Portela in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 26% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 72% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Portela in Brazil.

## People named Portela

- Maria Portela, Brazilian judoka

## Similar surnames

Portillo, Purtell, Portilla, Portal, Portales, Portalatin, Pirtle, Partlow.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.