Villalba
A Spanish surname originally referring to someone from one of several places called Villalba, literally “white town” or “bright village.”
The #6,852 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,843 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Villalba is a Spanish habitational surname, formed from villa, meaning “town,” “estate,” or “village,” plus alba, “white” or “bright.” The literal sense is “white town” or “bright village,” and it likely began as a name for someone who came from a place so called. Several towns and villages in Spain and the Hispanic world bear this name, so the surname may point to more than one independent place of origin.
History
The surname is found especially in Spain and across the Spanish-speaking world, where it spread through migration and colonial-era settlement. Because there are multiple places named Villalba, different families may have adopted the surname independently. In the modern United States it appears mainly through Hispanic immigration and family lines from Latin America or Spain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name looks simple, but it is actually a compact bit of Latin: villa + alba, “white village.”