Puga
A Spanish surname that is most likely locational or nickname-based, with older Spanish uses of the word tied to a spur or small point.
The #4,977 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,756 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Puga is Spanish, but its exact origin is not fully settled. Older Spanish sources use puga/puja in ways connected with a point, spur, or an upward “push” in bidding, which has led scholars to connect the name either with a place name or with a descriptive term. In surname use, it is safest to treat it as probably formed in Spanish from an older local or lexical word rather than as a transparent modern surname meaning.
History
Puga is established in Spain and also appears in Spanish-speaking populations abroad. Because the surviving historical excerpts here do not give the surname’s own derivation, the name should be handled cautiously as one of several Spanish surnames that may have developed from a place name or from an older regional word. The form is also found today in Latin America, where many Spanish surnames were carried through colonial migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same old Spanish word family that may lie behind Puga was also used in auction language for a “bid” or “raise” in price.
From the historical record
“Puga. Anticuado, púa. Puja. El aumento de precio que se ofrece por alguna cosa que se vende o arrienda en pública subasta. En los remates judiciales se ha de admitir libremente todas las pujas; pues si alguno las impide o comete fraudes, tiene”
— Diccionario de los apellidos