This name was originally given to the Italian-Brazilians -the largest non-Iberian European community in Brazil-, but was slowly spread to other non-Iberian white Brazilian communities like German-Brazilians, Slav-Brazilians and others..

In some regions of Northeastern Brazil (especially the states of Maranhão and Ceará), this name is also given to Brazilian Jews and Brazilians of Middle-Eastern descent.

The origins of the term is obscure. Following the Brazilian philologist Antenor Nascentes it's probably that carcamano derives from the Spanish word carcamán, which in Hispanic America means "a decrepit person" or "a person with old-fashioned ideas" (in Peru), "a very pretentious person who has no merits" (in Colombia) and a derogatory name for Italians and other non-Spaniard Europeans (in Argentina).

References