Sala
A surname that often comes from a word for a hall, room, or manor house, especially in Italian, Spanish, and related traditions.
The #7,575 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,393 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Sala is most commonly linked to a word meaning a hall, large room, manor house, or great house. In Romance languages this goes back to Latin and earlier Germanic forms used for a noble or household hall; the excerpts specifically connect it with Italian and Spanish uses for 'hall' or 'room,' and one source notes a Germanic origin behind the word. In some cases it may also have been adopted independently as a topographic or habitational surname for someone living near a hall or manor.
History
Sala is especially well attested in Italian surname usage, and it also appears in Spanish and Catalan contexts with the sense of a hall or principal room. The name is fairly widespread in northern Italy and in parts of the Spanish-speaking world, where it could arise from place-name or house-name usage. Because the word is ordinary and geographically broad, the surname may have multiple independent origins rather than one single family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In medieval and early modern usage, a 'sala' could mean not just a room but the main hall of a noble residence or manor.
From the historical record
“Engilird.' Bnplardiu Gt. Ralph, co. Sala|i, "Rlcliarf fi], En)[ilar, co. Salon, Ibid. William iKRl-fd, CO. SnnciTlbid. I«bel Ingelanl, co. Bedf., ibid.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances