Baca
A Spanish surname that most likely began as a nickname or place-based name, though its exact origin is not fully settled.
The #1,249 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 10,994 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Baca is found in Spanish-speaking areas, but the old sources provided here do not give a clear, reliable derivation for it. One Spanish word attested in historical dictionaries, baca, can mean a roof-rack or carrier on a vehicle, but that meaning does not by itself prove the surname came from that noun. Because the evidence is thin and the surname may have multiple local origins, it is safest to treat the etymology as uncertain.
History
Baca is well established in Hispanic naming traditions and is especially familiar in the Spanish-speaking world and in the Americas. In the United States it is relatively common in communities with Mexican and broader Hispanic ancestry. Historical surname dictionaries sometimes mention forms resembling Baca alongside other Iberian names, but the excerpts here do not provide a firm, single-line origin story.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Baca is also an ordinary Spanish word in historical usage, which is one reason surname etymologies for this name can be tricky to pin down.
From the historical record
“I554-S* Married — Dominick Croope am] Tone Symaon: St. Dionia Baca* chorchtp. 3. 1763. — John Sympson and Ann Bk>wer : St. Geo. Han. Sq. i. 118.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)