Plata
A Spanish surname most often derived from the word for “silver,” sometimes also from a place name such as Río de la Plata.
The #6,290 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,838 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In Spanish, plata means “silver,” from Latin plata and ultimately the same Indo-European word family that produced terms for shining or bright metals in Romance languages. As a surname, it is usually understood as a nickname or ornamental name connected with the metal, or less often as a reference to a place called Plata. The historical excerpts also show Spanish writers listing Plata among surnames formed from minerals and place names.
History
The name appears in Spanish-speaking records and is especially common in Hispanic naming traditions, where ordinary nouns often became hereditary surnames. It may also have been reinforced by geographic usage, since Río de la Plata and related place names were familiar in Spanish colonial history. In the United States, Plata is carried by a modest but significant number of bearers, reflecting Hispanic and Latino migration and settlement.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older Spanish usage, plata could also be a poetic or formal way to refer to money, because silver coinage was so important historically.
From the historical record
“„ Plata Sweden .”
— The Norman People and their existing descendants in the British dominions and the United States