Araújo or Araujo or Arauxo ([ɐɾɐˈuʒu], [aɾaˈuxo]) is a Galician and Portuguese surname. The surname Araújo is of toponymic origin derived from a place in the vicinity of the Miño River where a Crusader Knight of French Noble descent, Don Rodrigo Anes, was rewarded with reconquered Iberian lands during the Reconquista. The poisonous plant with white fragrant flowers known in Latin as Araujia sericifera was named after the botanist António de Araújo e Azevedo, 1st Count of Barca (1754–1817). The surname Araújo seems to be a habitational name in Portugal and can be found in and around Portuguese cities such as Coimbra, Elvas, Estremoz, Lisbon, Torre de Moncorvo, Monção, Serpa, Setúbal, and Vila Verde.
The progenitor of this surname Araújo is Rodrigo Anes, who was lord of the lands known as Araújo located in Southern Kingdom of Galicia in modern NW Spain close to the Miño/Minho river. This river marked the border between Kingdom of Galicia and Northern Portugal, which had been a part of the Kingdom of Galicia in the 12th century.
Rodrigo Anes, better known as Rodrigo Anes de Araújo, was descended from members of the royal families of the kingdom of France and the kingdom of Burgundy via a noble Knight named Jean Tiranoth. He was born around 1100 A.D., and in a battle at the River Lima, Portugal he defeated the first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques. Jean Tiranoth with a number of Burgundian and French crusaders had moved to Galicia to participate in the reconquesta of the Iberian Peninsula. It was very common for Frenchmen to participate in the reconquest of Spain and Portugal from Islamic control between the 8th and 14th centuries. Their reward for participating were reconquered lands.
Jean Tiranoth was a contemporary of Afonso Henriques the first King of Portugal and witnessed the separation of County of Portugal from the Kingdom of Galicia in 1139.
Rodrigo Anes de Araújo constructed the Castle of Araújo in the Kingdom of Galicia and married Doña Mayor Alvares de Aza, who was the daughter of a noble family which was somehow related to Rodrigo Anes de Araújo. Doña Mayor Alvares de Aza was the daughter of Don Rodrigo Alvares de Aza and Doña Maria Pires de Ambia. From this marriage descended the Araújo family of Kingdom of Galicia, who were lords of many houses in that Kingdom through marriage.
The Bishop of Malaca, João Ribeiro Gaio, wrote about the location of the ancient Araújo family cemetery in the following manner:
Através de Bitorinho
tem sepulcros já gastados
Araújos afamados
na terra que rega o Minho,
antigos, abalisados.
English Translation
Across the Bitorinho
lands watered by the Miño River
lies the graves of
the famous Araújos
ancient renowned Noblemen.
Later, in 1492, the Kingdom of Galicia along with other Kingdoms in the Iberian peninsula were united to become the Kingdom of Spain. Throughout Spain's colonial period between the 16th and 19th century a number of Galician Spaniards bearing the surname Araújo in the service of the King of Spain moved to colonize the territories of the Spanish Empire in North America and South America.
One of the grandchildren of Rodrigo Anes de Araújo known in Portuguese chronicles as Vasco Rodriguez de Araújo, decided to leave Spain and settle in Portugal, where he entered the service of the Kings of Portugal. Throughout Portugal's colonial period a number of Portuguese bearing the Araújo surname moved to settle Portugal's overseas empire.
Antonio de Araujo (d. 1632), Brazilian Jesuit missionary
Francisco Correa de Araujo (1584-1654) Spanish renaissance organist, composer, and theorist.
Emanuel Araújo (born 1942), history professor
Luís Araújo (born 1949), Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Air Force
Cheryl Araujo (1961-1986), American rape victim
Gwen Araujo (1985-2002), transgender teenager
Eugênio de Araújo Sales (born 1920), longest-serving cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church
Orestes Araújo (1853-1915), Uruguayan scholar
Heriberto Araújo (born 1983), Spanish journalist and writer
Serafim Fernandes de Araújo (born 1924), cardinal archbishop of Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Manuel de Araújo, Mozambican politician
Arts and entertainment
Ana Paula Araújo (model) (born 1981), model
Cândido José de Araújo Viana (1793-1875), Brazilian writer
César Calvo de Araujo (1910-1970), Peruvian writer and painter
Cristiano Araújo (born 1986-2015), was a Brazilian singer, performer and songwriter in Sertanejo music style.
Juan de Araujo (1646-1712), Spanish-Peruvian Musician
Loipa Araújo (born 1943), Cuban prima ballerina
Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre, Baron of Santo Ângelo (1806-1876), Brazilian poet and playwright
Nelson de Araújo (1926-1993), renowned author
Taís Araújo (born 1978), Brazilian actress
Sonia Araujo (born 1970), Portuguese TV presenter
Kate DeAraugo (born 1985), Australian singer
Arturo Araujo (born 1967), Colombian Artist
Álvaro Araújo Castro (born 1967), Colombian politician
Arturo Araujo, president of El Salvador
Consuelo Araújo (1940-2001), Colombian politician, writer and self-taught journalist
Fernando Araújo Perdomo (born circa 1955), Minister of Development of Colombia
Fernando de Araújo (born 1962), East Timorese politician
Hernando Molina Araújo (born 1961), Colombian politician
João Augusto de Araújo Castro, Brazilian diplomat and minister
João Batista Oliveira de Araujo, Brazilian politician
Manuel Enrique Araujo (1865-1913), President of El Salvador
María Consuelo Araújo (born 1971), Colombian politician
Mariano de Araújo Matsinhe (born 1953), Mozambican politician
Nelson Araujo (born 1987), American politician
Theolinda Olympio de Araújo, Brazilian politician
José Sarney de Araújo Costa, Brazilian President
Napoleon Araújo Doffigny (born 1929), South American pole-vaulting champion, Bolivian national fencing, track and football champion
George Araujo (1931 - 1997), American boxer
Eronilde de Araújo (born 1970), Brazilian athlete
Marcelo Araujo, Argentine sports journalist
Márcio Araújo (born 1973), beach volleyball player
Mário de Araújo Cabral (born 1934), former racing driver
Rafael Paulo de Lara Araújo (born 1980), Brazilian professional basketball player
Armindo Araujo (born 1977), Portuguese rally driver
Alcides Araújo Alves (born 1985), Brazilian footballer
Carlos Luciano Araujo (born 1981), Argentinian defender
Clemerson de Araújo Soares (born 1977), Brazilian footballer
Denílson de Oliveira Araújo (born 1977), football winger
Gustavo Lazzaretti de Araújo (born 1984), Brazilian central defender
Ilan Araujo Dall'Igna (born 1980), Brazilian football forward
José Carlos da Costa Araújo (born 1962), Brazilian football goalkeeper
Joubert Araújo Martins (born 1975), Brazilian association football player
Leonardo Araújo (born 1969), football midfielder
Márcio Rodrigues Araújo (born 1984), Brazilian defensive midfielder
Marcos Gomes de Araujo (born 1976), Brazilian striker
Néstor Araujo (born 1991), Mexican footballer
Oélilton Araújo dos Santos (born 1981), Brazilian-born Croatian footballer
Patricio Araujo (born 1988), Mexican footballer
Paulo Araujo Jr. (born 1989), Brazilian striker
Raffael Caetano de Araújo (born 1985), footballer
Reginaldo Araújo (born 1977), Brazilian defender
Ricardo Martins de Araújo (born 1986), Brazilian footballer
Ronny Heberson Furtado de Araújo (born 1986), Brazilian football defender
Saulo Araújo Fontes (born 1989), Brazilian goalkeeper
Sérgio Araújo (born 1963), Brazilian winger
Telmario de Araújo Sacramento (born 1983), Brazilian striker
Thiago Luiz Moreira de Araújo (born 1988), Brazilian full back
Vinícius Vasconcelos Araújo (born 1993), Brazilian striker
Araújo family, Portuguese Americans in the film Mystic Pizza
