Laguna
A Spanish and Latin-derived surname meaning “lagoon,” “pool,” or “stretch of standing water.”
The #6,088 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 54,810 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Laguna comes from the Spanish common noun laguna, meaning a lagoon, pool, pond, or water-filled hollow. The word is ultimately from Latin lacūna, “hollow” or “gap,” and in Iberian place-naming it could refer to a settlement near a marsh, lake, or enclosed body of water. As a surname, it is usually locational or topographic, identifying someone from a place called Laguna or from a watery landscape.
History
The surname is well established in Spain and in Spanish-speaking regions more broadly, where it may have arisen independently in several places named Laguna. Medieval and early modern records also show Laguna used as a place-based byname and later as a hereditary surname. It is common enough in modern Spanish-language areas and also appears in the Americas through colonial-era migration.
Origin
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Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older Spanish, laguna could also be used for a moat, pond, or other standing water feature, not just a natural lake.
From the historical record
“pre llenas de agua. Laguna. Concavidad en la tierra donde se juntan i man- tienen muchas aguas. En los escritos es el hueco que se quedó sin escribir, o cuya escritura consumió el tiempo, DE LOS APELLIDOS 81”
— Diccionario de los apellidos