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Insight Horizon Media

What are gypsies called in Portugal?

Author

Christopher Anderson

Published Mar 01, 2026

What are gypsies called in Portugal?

The Romani people in Portugal, known in spoken Portuguese as ciganos (Portuguese pronunciation: [siˈɣɐnuʃ]), but also alternatively known as calés, calós, and boémios, are a minority ethnic group. The exact numbers of Romani people in the country are unknown—estimates vary from 30,000 to 50,000.

Are Brazilians gypsies?

According to specialists, the Gypsies who settled in Brazil between the sixteenth and the nineteenth century belong to two major groups, the Brazilian Gypsies from Portugal, or Calones, and the Rom, Gypsies from elsewhere than the Iberian peninsula who arrived in Brazil after the country became politically independent …

What is the meaning of Cigana?

noun. gypsy, gipsy [noun] a member of a race of wandering people.

How many Romani are in Brazil?

Population by country

CountryRegionPopulation
BrazilSouth America678,000–1,000,000
BulgariaSouthern/Eastern Europe, Balkans370,908 (official census) to 600,000
CanadaNorth America80,000
ChileSouth America15,000–20,000

Are Romani and Romanian the same?

So no, Roma does not mean Romanian. It is quite a common mistake. Roma or Romani represent the ethnic group that started the migration from India more than 1000 years ago. The Romanians are another ethnic group, the majority inhabitant of today’s Romanian territories and successors of the Ancient Dacians and Romans.

Which country has most Gypsy?

The Romani language is divided into several dialects, which together are estimated to have more than two million speakers….Romani people.

Total population
United States1,000,000 estimated with Romani ancestry
Brazil800,000 (0.38–0.4%)
Spain750,000–1,500,000 (1.87%)
Romania619,007–1,850,000 (8.32%)

What are common Gypsy last names?

Common Gypsy names. You may have Gypsy ancestry if your family tree includes common Gypsy surnames such as Boswell, Buckland, Codona, Cooper, Doe, Lee, Gray (or Grey), Hearn, Heron, Hodgkins, Holland, Lee, Lovell, Loveridge, Smith, Wood and Young.

What is the difference between Roma and Romany?

The Roma, or Romani (also spelled Romany) are a traditionally itinerant ethnic group, who live mostly in Europe; branches of the ethnic group live in the Americas, Asia and North Africa. Romany (with a y) usually refers specifically to Romanichals, the native Romani subgroup in England.

What religion is a gypsy?

The Roma do not follow a single faith; rather, they often adopt the predominant religion of the country where they are living, according to Open Society, and describe themselves as “many stars scattered in the sight of God.” Some Roma groups are Catholic, Muslim, Pentecostal, Protestant, Anglican or Baptist.

What is a black gypsy?

True Romany Gypsies were regarded as being of the pure “black blood” and the word “black” was regularly used as a compliment, particularly in people’s names, meaning a gypsy of the purest type.