Costa
A surname meaning “coast” or “slope,” used in several Romance-language traditions.
The #904 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,069 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Costa comes from Latin costa, meaning “rib” and, by extension, “side” or “slope”; in Romance languages it also developed the sense “coast” or “shore.” As a surname, it most often arose as a locational name for someone who lived by the coast, on a hillside, or near a sloping piece of ground. In some cases it may also be a shortened form of longer names such as da Costa (“of the coast”).
History
Costa is widespread across Iberian, Italian, and other Romance-speaking areas, and it also appears in France and in communities shaped by migration from those regions. The form da Costa was especially associated with Portuguese usage, and English surname books note it among names brought by Continental Protestant refugees. In Spanish and Portuguese contexts, Costa remains a common and recognizable family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Latin root behind Costa also helped produce many place- and landscape-words across Romance languages, so the surname can point either to the sea coast or to a hillside slope depending on local usage.
From the historical record
“DACOSTA \ (Portug.) Of the Coast or DA COSTA J Shore [Lat. casta, a side] D'ALLEMAGNEl (Fr.) Of Germany [Lat.- D'ALMAINE J Teut. tribal name Al{l)e-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)