La Rosa
A surname meaning “the rose,” often from a place name, house name, or a nickname tied to the flower or a rosy complexion.
The #5,140 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,350 Americans shares it.
Etymology
La Rosa is a Romance-language surname built from the definite article la and rosa, meaning “rose.” In Italian and Spanish, it could have begun as a topographic or locational name for someone living near roses or at a place called La Rosa, or as a house sign or nickname. Because the form is very simple and widespread across Romance languages, it may also have arisen independently in more than one place.
History
The surname is especially well known in Italian and Hispanic naming traditions, where surnames based on flowers, places, and house names are common. It also appears in the United States through Italian and Spanish-speaking immigration, which helps explain its modern distribution. As with many simple descriptive surnames, the same spelling may reflect several separate family origins.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Rosa, the root word, is one of the most internationally recognizable surname elements in Europe, so very similar surnames can appear in several languages independently.