Noronha

Arms of the Noronha family, showing their royal origins, both Portuguese and Castilian.

Noronha is a family name that is found among some aristocratic families in Portugal.

This family has its origins in the marriage of Alfonso, Count of Gijón and Noreña (natural son of King Henry II of Castile) with Isabel of Portugal (natural daughter of King Ferdinand I of Portugal). Their marriage was one of the clauses of the peace treaty, signed in 1373, between the two peninsular kingdoms.

Alfonso was Count of Noreña, an Asturian village he had received from his father, and his children used the Portuguese spelling Noronha as their family name.

The name Noronha was adopted by a sizable number of people from the state of Goa in western India. Goa is a former province of the Portuguese empire. The Portuguese colonial territories of Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until they were annexed by India in 1961.

People bearing the name include:

• Fernando de Noronha, 2nd Count of Vila Real, (son of Alfonso of Gijón-Noreña and Isabel of Portugal), governor of Ceuta
• Afonso de Noronha, viceroy of Portuguese India
• Miguel de Noronha, 4th Count of Linhares, viceroy of Portuguese India
• Camila de Noronha, early 17th-century Portuguese noblewoman, married to Gonçalo Pires de Carvalho
• Francisco Noronha (1748-1787), botanist
• Frederick Noronha, Indian journalist
• Fernão de Noronha (15th century/16th century), Portuguese explorer
• Melvyn Noronha, Voice of Goa 2010, International Awarded Fashion Designer, Theater Actor, Fashion Mentor
• Osnar Noronha, Peruvian footballer.
• Rodrigo António de Noronha e Meneses, governor of the Kingdom of the Algarve, mid 18th century.
• Alfredo Eduardo Barreto de Freitas Noronha (1918 – 2003), Brazilian football player.

• Paulo Francisco Noronha (1966 - ),1988 Olympian for the Republic Of Mozambique

See also

• Fernando de Noronha, Brazilian island group in the Atlantic Ocean