Viola
A surname from the Latin word for the violet flower, often used as a delicate personal name before becoming a family name.
The #5,271 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 46,666 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Viola comes from Latin viola, meaning “violet” or “violet flower.” As a surname, it is most naturally understood as having arisen from a personal name or nickname based on the flower, suggesting beauty, modesty, or a purple color association. In Romance languages, especially Italian and French, related forms such as Viola and Violette were also used as given names.
History
The historical excerpts show Viola treated primarily as a feminine name in the 19th-century onomastic literature, with writers explicitly deriving it from Latin viola. In English-speaking usage it is more familiar as a given name than as an old hereditary surname, though it has been borne as a family name in modern records. Shakespeare’s Viola also helped keep the form recognizable and attractive in English literary culture.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century name books were unsure whether Viola had ever been a true Italian name or was mainly popularized by literature, showing how closely literary fashion and naming practice overlapped.
From the historical record
“says from Aphrosune, mad folly. VIOLA. (Lai) Viola, a violet, pretty and modest. VIRGINIA. (Lat.) Virgin-like, chaste, maidenly. WILHELMINA. (Ger.) The feminine of Wilhelm or Wil- liam. (See William.) WINIFRED. (Sax.) From Win, and fred, get peace. THE END.”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names