Latta
A surname with several possible roots, most likely tied to a place name or an old word for a lath or board.
The #5,642 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 50,162 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Latta is not securely pinned to one origin in the older surname books. One line of explanation connects it with an old word for a lath or thin strip of wood, from Old English or Anglo-Saxon forms related to that meaning, suggesting an occupational nickname for someone who made or split laths. Another possibility is that it arose as a shortened or altered form of a place-based name, and some older writers also grouped it with related forms found in Ireland, but without firm proof.
History
The name appears in British surname collections alongside forms such as Latter and Lattey, which suggests they were seen as part of a related name cluster. In Scotland and northern England it is found as a rare surname, and in the United States it spread further through later migration, though it has never been especially common. Because the historical evidence is thin, the exact line of descent may differ between families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers sometimes tried to explain Latta by linking it to a craftsman's trade in wooden laths, but they did not all agree on the derivation.
From the historical record
“LATTER. A lat in many dialects signi- fies a lath, from the A- Sax. latta, asseres; and hence it has been conjectured that a Latter means a lath-cleaver or splitter. LATTIX, A branch of the family of De Latton, of Wiltshire, settled in Ireland,”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom