Cueva
A Spanish surname meaning “cave,” likely first used for someone who lived near or worked at a cave or hollow place.
The #8,272 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 77,032 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Cueva is the Spanish word for “cave” or “cavern,” from Latin cova, meaning a hollow or cave. As a surname, it most likely began as a topographic name for someone who lived by a cave, hollow, or similar land feature. In older Spanish lexicographic and onomastic works, the word is also glossed more broadly as a subterranean cavity or enclosed place.
History
The surname is found in Spanish-speaking areas and appears in the plural form Cuevas as well. Historical surname writers often grouped it with other place-based names taken from landscape features. In some traditions, cave names could also carry local legend or social associations, but the basic surname meaning remains geographic.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The related Spanish surname Cuevas is much more common today than the singular Cueva in many places.
From the historical record
“Conejeras. Los vivares o madrigueras donde se crían los conejos. Cueva o mina estrecha i larga, semejante a la que hacen los conejos para madrigueras. La casa donde se suele juntar mucha jente de mal vivir. El sótano, cueva O lugar estrecho donde se recojen muchos.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos