Almeida Family History

Spanish and Portuguese: habitational name from any of numerous places called Almeida in western Spain and in Portugal all named from Arabic al-māida ‘table’ (in topographic sense ‘upland tableland’ or ‘hill’). Compare De Almeida.

Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Iberian surname (see 1 above) at the moment of conversion to Roman Catholicism. After the return to Judaism (generations later) some descendants retained the name their families used as Catholics.