Fonseca (surname)

Fonseca

Coat of arms associated to Fonseca
Language(s)	Portuguese, Spanish
Origin
Meaning	dry well
Region of origin	Portugal, Spain
Other names
Variant form(s)	Fonseka, Afonseca, Affonseca, de Fonseca, de Afonseca, de Affonseca, D'Afonseca, D'Affonseca

Fonseca is a surname of Portuguese and later also Spanish origin. A feudal lordship name from a place named for a spring that dried up during the summer months, it comes from Latin fons sicca, meaning "dry well". The name is also common among Sephardic Jews.

Fonseca or Fonseka may refer to:

People

• Alonso III Fonseca (1475–1534), Galician archbishop and politician
• Andrea Fonseka, Malaysian actor, television presenter and model and winner of Miss Malaysia Universe 2004
• Angelo da Fonseca (1902–1967), Indian artist
• Antônio Joao da Fonseca (born 1966), Brazilian footballer
• Bruno Fonseca (1958–1994), American painter and sculptor
• Carlo Fonseka (1933–2019), Sri Lankan medical academic
• Carlos Fonseca Amador (1936–1976), Nicaraguan founder of the Sandinistas
• Carlos Fonseca (boxer) (born 1955), Brazilian boxer
• Carolyn De Fonseca (1929–2009), American film and voice actress
• Casto Fonseca (1800–1845), Nicaraguan military dictator
• Celso Fonseca (born 1956), Brazilian samba, bossa nova and música popular brasileira guitarist and vocalist
• Cholomondeley de Fonseka Goonewardene (1917-2006), Sri Lankan Sinhala Trotskyist politician
• Cleonâncio Fonseca (1936–2021), Brazilian politician
• Daniel Fonseca (born 1969), Uruguayan football (soccer) player
• Daniel de Fonseca (1672–c. 1740), Jewish court physician and courtier in Europe
• Daniele Fonseca, birth name of Italian unification leader Daniele Manin (1804–1857)
• Danny Fonseca (born 1979), Costa Rican football (soccer) player
• David Fonseca (born 1973), Portuguese singer
• Deodoro da Fonseca (1827–1892), first President of the Republic of Brazil
• Duduka da Fonseca (born 1951), Brazilian jazz drummer and band leader
• Édgar Fonseca (born 1981), Colombian road cyclist
• Edison Fonseca (born 1984), Colombian football (soccer) player
• Eleonora Fonseca Pimentel (1751–1799), Neapolitan poet and revolutionary
• Eugene Reginald de Fonseka (died 2003), puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
• Flor Isava Fonseca (1921–2020), Venezuelan sportswoman and writer
• Francisco Fonseca (born 1979), Mexican football (soccer) player
• Fumilay Fonseca (born 1988), São Toméan race walker
• Gamini Fonseka (1936–2004), Sri Lankan film actor and politician
• Gampalage Shehan Naveendra De Fonseka Gunawarna Jayasuriya (born 1991), Sri Lankan cricketer
• Gonzalo Fonseca (1922–1997), Uruguayan sculptor
• Graciano Fonseca (born 1974), Colombian road cyclist
• Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca (1855–1923), President of Brazil
• Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (1605–1693), rabbi, scholar, kabbalist and writer in Europe and South America
• Isabel Fonseca (born 1961), American writer
• J. P. de Fonseka (1897–1948), Sri Lankan essayist
• João Fonseca (born 2006), Brazilian tennis player
• Juan Fernando Fonseca (born 1979), Colombian singer better known under his stage name Fonseca
• Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca, (1451–1524), Spanish archbishop, courtier and bureaucrat
• Lew Fonseca (1899–1989), American baseball player
• Luis Fonseca (runner) (born 1977), Venezuelan long-distance runner
• Luis Fonseca (United States Navy) (born 1980), a United States Navy hospital corpsman and hero of the Iraq War
• Luis Fonseca (weightlifter) (born 1949), Costa Rican weightlifter
• Lyndsy Fonseca (born 1987), American television and film actress
• Malini Fonseka, Sri Lankan film actress
• Mary L. Fonseca (1915–2005), American politician and Massachusetts state senator
• Mervyn Fonseka (1897–1946), Sri Lankan lawyer
• Morawakkorakoralege Walter Fonseka Abeykoon (1903-?), Ceylonese civil servant
• Mohotti Arachchilage Sriyani Kulawansa-Fonseca (born 1970), Sri Lankan Olympic hurdler
• Paulo Fonseca (born 1973), Portuguese football soccer manager
• Peter Fonseca (born 1966), Canadian politician
• Ramón Fonseca Mora (born 1952), Panamanian novelist and attorney
• Ray Fonseca (dancer) (1953–2010), American professional hula dancer
• Ray Fonseca (politician) (born 1959), a US Virgin Island senator
• Roberto Fonseca (born 1975), Cuban jazz pianist
• Roberto Fonseca (football manager) (born 1962), Brazilian football manager
• Rolando Fonseca (born 1974), Costa Rican football (soccer) player
• Sarath Fonseka (born 1950), Sri Lankan politician and senior military officer
• Susantha de Fonseka (1900–1963), Sri Lankan statesman
• Todd A. Fonseca (born 1966), American author of juvenile fiction