Villa
A surname from Latin and Romance place-names meaning “farmstead” or “country estate,” often taken from a village or manor.
The #644 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,846 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Villa ultimately comes from Latin villa, meaning a country house, estate, or farm. As a surname, it most often arose as a locative name for someone who lived by, came from, or was associated with a villa or settlement carrying that name. In Romance-language areas, especially Italy and Spain, it also became a straightforward habitational surname from places called Villa.
History
The form is common in Italy and the Hispanic world, where it is often a direct surname or part of compound surnames and place-based names. In medieval records, Latinized forms such as de Villa and related spellings appear for people identified by their connection to a manor or settlement. In English records, similar-looking Norman and French place-names sometimes influenced surnames built on villa, but the surname is far more strongly associated with Romance-language naming traditions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Villa is also one of the most common elements in European place-names, which is why it shows up so often in medieval surname forms and Latin documents.
From the historical record
“W. H. Duignan, Esq., Gorway House, Walsall. William Ford Edgelow, Esq., Braddon Villa, Torquay. Frank Gallsworthy, Esq., Wellesley Buildings, Leeds. Guildhall Library (Bernard Kettle, Esq., Librarian), London.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)