Coppola
An Italian surname most often linked to a cap or hood, likely first used for someone known for wearing or making such headgear.
The #4,091 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 35,586 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Coppola is an Italian surname commonly connected with the word coppola, meaning a cap, hood, or close-fitting head covering. The ultimate root is usually traced to Late Latin cappa, “cape” or “hood,” a source of many Romance words for garments and covers. As a surname, it likely began as a nickname for someone associated with such headwear, or possibly for a maker or seller of caps.
History
The surname is found especially in southern Italy, where it is well established as a family name. It also spread widely through Italian emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially to the Americas and Argentina. A well-known bearer is filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, whose family name reflects this Italian surname tradition.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Italian, coppola is also the name of a traditional flat cap still associated with parts of southern Italy.