Batista
Origin of the Madeiran surname Batista, descended from the Genoese nobleman Misser João Batista, who settled in Porto da Cruz in the late fifteenth century.
This surname derives from Misser João Batista, who came of the noble Genoese family of Usodimare and settled on this island in the last quarter of the 15th century. He made his home in the parish (freguesia) of Porto da Cruz (‘harbour of the cross’), where he held a great deal of land in sesmaria (royal land grant to settlers on condition of cultivation). In that parish there is a locality (sítio) called Terra Batista (‘Batista’s land’), which belonged to the entailed estate (morgadio) founded by Misser João Batista and passed down among his descendants. He married Tristoa Teixeira, daughter of the discoverer Tristão Vaz Teixeira, first captain-donatary of Machico.