Costa (surname) explained

Costa (pronounced as /it/, pronounced as /pt/, pronounced as /gl/, pronounced as /es/, in Catalan; Valencian ˈkɔstə, ˈkɔsta/), sometimes Costas, da Costa, Da Costa, or Dalla Costa, is an Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, Catalan, French, and Greek mostly toponymic surname. The surname spread throughout the world through colonization. It was also a surname chosen by former Jews due to Roman Catholic and other Christian (often forced) conversions.

In Italy, Portugal, Galicia and Catalonia it is derived from the Latin word costa, "rib", which has come to mean slope, coast (close to the sea, or coastline locations) in Romance languages. In Spain, it originates from Catalonia or Galicia, with the Spanish (Castilian) equivalent being Cuesta.[1]

Geographical distribution

As of 2014, 71.0% of all known bearers of the surname Costa were residents of Brazil (frequency 1:141), 7.6% of Portugal (1:67), 5.2% of Mozambique (1:255), 3.7% of Italy (1:801), 2.4% of the United States (1:7,460), 1.9% of Guinea-Bissau (1:44), 1.5% of Spain (1:1,531), 1.2% of East Timor (1:49) and 1.2% of Argentina (1:1,809).

In Brazil, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:141) in the following states:

  1. Maranhão (1:46)
  2. Amapá (1:60)
  3. Pará (1:74)
  4. Roraima (1:77)
  5. Acre (1:93)
  6. Rio Grande do Norte (1:97)
  7. Amazonas (1:98)
  8. Ceará (1:112)
  9. Bahia (1:112)
  10. Tocantins (1:113)
  11. Sergipe (1:117)
  12. Piauí (1:119)
  13. Paraíba (1:120)
  14. Alagoas (1:131)
  15. Federal District (1:131)
  16. Minas Gerais (1:140)

In Italy, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:801) in the following regions:

  1. Liguria (1:214)
  2. Sicily (1:374)
  3. Piedmont (1:458)
  4. Veneto (1:489)
  5. Emilia-Romagna (1:676)
  6. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (1:763)
  7. Lombardy (1:784)

In Spain, the frequency of the surname was higher than national average (1:1,531) in the following autonomous communities:[2]

  1. Balearic Islands (1:399)
  2. Catalonia (1:667)
  3. Galicia (1:672)
  4. Region of Murcia (1:845)
  5. Valencian Community (1:1,001)

People

Fictional characters

Dalla Costa

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Coromines, Joan. Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana. 2008. Gredos. Madrid. 978-84-473-5862-5. 154. 1a. ed. en esta colección..
  2. https://forebears.io/surnames/costa Costa surname distribution

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