Espinal
A Spanish surname meaning “of the thorny place” or “belonging to the spine/thorn.”
The #2,289 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,389 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Espinal is a Spanish surname built from espina, meaning “thorn” or “spine,” with the suffix -al, which often forms nouns meaning a place associated with something. In literal terms, it can mean “thorny place” or “a place full of thorns,” and by extension it can also relate to the idea of the spine. The surname likely began as a topographic name for someone who lived near a thorny thicket or similar feature.
History
The name is found in the Spanish-speaking world and also appears in the Americas through Spanish colonial migration. As with many surnames formed from landscape words, it may have arisen independently in more than one place. Modern bearers are especially common in countries with strong Hispanic naming traditions, including the Dominican Republic and other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America.
Origin
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Fun fact
The same root word, espina, gives Spanish both the everyday word for a thorn and, in some contexts, the anatomical sense of “spine.”
From the historical record
“queña de la madera. Escrúpulo, recelo. Espinal. Lo que pertenece a la espina o espinazo. Espinar. Sitio poblado de espinas. Espinas. Plural de espina.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos