The Silvas of Brazil: Lula, his wife, Neymar and 34 million fellow citizens
The country’s most common surname, which comes from ‘forest’, spread after slavery and is now being increasingly reclaimed after being long dismissed as too ‘ordinary’
Black News 
While waiting to complete paperwork at a notary’s office, Ms. Ivone Souza Silva, 64, who has deep-set circles under her eyes and shoulder-length hair, smiles as she recalls a childhood anecdote: “At school, the surname of half the class or almost half was Silva, like me… And like Ayrton Senna.” And so, unexpectedly, this housewife mentions a fact many of her fellow Brazilians do not know about the Formula 1 champion whose death behind the wheel at the peak of his career in 1994 shocked the sporting world. On Wednesday morning she learned that his full name was Ayrton Senna da Silva.
