Magalhães

Magalhães is a Portuguese surname and toponym used in Portugal, Brazil, and other Portuguese-speaking communities. The name is common as a family name and appears in the names of places and institutions, often in tribute to historical figures bearing the name or to the explorer associated with it. The spelling reflects Portuguese orthography.

The most prominent historical reference is Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese navigator who organized the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe for the Crown of Castile. In Portuguese sources, he is commonly called Fernão de Magalhães, and his surname has left a lasting geographic legacy. The Strait of Magellan, a major sea passage at the southern tip of South America that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is named after him and is one of the best-known toponymic uses of the name.

Beyond the strait, the Magalhães name appears in various locales, including towns, streets, and institutions in Portuguese-speaking countries. It is also carried by many contemporary individuals across diverse fields, such as science, politics, sports, and the arts.

See also references commonly associated with the name include Magellan (the English form of the explorer’s name) and Magallanes (the Spanish/form variants), as well as Fernão de Magalhães in Portuguese-language texts.