Posadas
A Spanish surname meaning “inns” or “lodgings,” usually tied to a place or house name.
The #9,177 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,873 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Posadas comes from Spanish posada, meaning an inn, lodging, or place to stay, from Latin *posita* / *positus* (“placed”) through the idea of a place where one is set down or housed. As a surname, the plural form usually points to someone who lived near, worked at, owned, or was associated with inns or lodging houses, or to a place called Posadas. The basic sense is therefore topographic or locational rather than descriptive of a person’s character.
History
The surname is found in Spanish-speaking regions and in Spanish-language records of the colonial period and later migrations. It is especially common as a toponymic surname, since Posadas is also the name of places in the Hispanic world, which can make separate family lines share the same surname independently.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Spanish dictionary tradition has long used posada for an inn or lodging house, which helps explain why the surname can appear both as a family name and as a place name.
From the historical record
“tapias. Posadas. Las cásas propias de cada uno donde habita o mora. Las casas donde por dinero se h>speda o recibe la jente. Estuche de cuchara, tenedor i cuchillo. Cuartos para criados | Postigo. La puerta falsa situada en sitio escusado de la.”
— Diccionario de los apellidos