Pascua
A surname from the word for Easter or Passover, originally given to someone born or baptized around that feast.
The #7,684 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 71,452 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pascua comes from Spanish pascua, meaning "Easter" or, more broadly, a major feast day. The word goes back to Latin pascha, from Greek páskha, ultimately related to the Jewish Passover. As a surname, it most likely began as a name for someone associated with the Easter season, such as a child born then or a person nicknamed for the feast.
History
The historical notes point to Pascua as part of a wider Iberian naming pattern built from feast days and the liturgical calendar. Related forms such as Pasqua, Pascoa, Paschal, and Pascual appear across Romance-speaking regions, showing how the term spread as both a given name element and a surname. In the Spanish-speaking world, Pascua remains relatively uncommon but well established.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same ancient feast word that underlies Pascua also gave English the old word pasque, preserved today in the name of the pasque flower.
From the historical record
“que lo habia dedicado a esta diosa. La iglesia católica lo ha consagrado a la penitencia i al ayuno. El Viernes santo es el que precede al dia de pascua. Vigaza. Aumentativo de viga. Vílo. En el aire, sin seguridad, con poca firmeza.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos