Alba
A short surname with multiple roots, most often linked to a place-name or to the old word for “white.”
The #2,699 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,132 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Alba is a surname with more than one possible origin. In Romance languages it often comes from Latin alba, meaning “white” or “dawn,” and may be tied to place-names such as Alba Longa or to local geographic names called Alba. In the Gaelic world, Alba is the old name for Scotland, so the surname can also be locational or ethnic in reference to Scotland or Scottish identity. Because the same form arose independently in different languages, the surname can have different histories in different families.
History
As a surname, Alba is found in both Iberian and Italian contexts, where it often reflects a place-name or a descriptive term connected with whiteness or sunrise. In Gaelic historical writing, Alba is the traditional name for Scotland, which has also influenced surnames and bynames in Scottish and Irish contexts. The form is therefore best understood as a convergent surname rather than a single family line with one origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Scottish Gaelic, Alba is the native name for Scotland, a usage that goes back many centuries.
From the historical record
“Greenwood lo marry, they beinjr related in the (onrlh denec lined from Rome by Jordan, BiiEon of Alba,' &c. : Ten. Bbor. iii. 317. Emmo« de Kibar, co. Soow., ■ Edw. IH: Xirby'i Qneat, p. 149.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances