Espinosa
A Spanish surname usually meaning “thorny place” or “place covered with brambles.”
The #896 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,985 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Espinosa comes from Spanish espinoso, meaning “thorny” or “full of thorns,” ultimately from Latin spina, “thorn” or “spine.” As a surname, it most likely began as a name for someone who lived near a prickly or scrubby place, or from a settlement so called. The feminine-looking ending -a is normal in Spanish place-based surnames and does not imply the name is originally female.
History
The name is common in Spain and throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America, reflecting the widespread habit of adopting surnames from local place-names and landscape terms. Historical sources also connect it with Spanish place names such as Espinosa de los Monteros, which helped spread the surname as families took their names from their place of origin. Today it is especially familiar in the Americas, where Spanish colonial migration carried it widely.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older Spanish onomastics, names built on espina/espino often point to rough terrain or thorny vegetation rather than to the personal trait of being “sharp.”
From the historical record
“Espinos. Plural del anterior. Espinosa. Cubierto de espinas, ardúo, difícil. .Esquilar. Cortar el pelo o lana. Esquildera. Esquiladora.: | |”
— Diccionario de los apellidos