Scala
An Italian surname meaning “ladder” or “stair,” sometimes referring to a person or place connected with steps or a staircase.
The #9,212 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 87,290 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Scala is the Italian word for “ladder” or “stair,” from Latin scalae, “stairs” or “steps.” As a surname, it may have begun as a topographic or locational name for someone living by a staircase, ladder, or place marked by such a feature. In some noble or heraldic traditions, it was also linked to the idea of an actual ladder as a family emblem or story of origin.
History
The name is well known in Italy, especially through the medieval della Scala family of Verona, whose name appears in forms such as Scaliger in Latinized usage. English surname dictionaries of the 19th century glossed Scala directly as “of the ladder,” reflecting the literal Italian meaning. In modern usage it also appears among Italian-American families and as a shortened or simplified form of longer names such as della Scala.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The famous medieval rulers of Verona were called the della Scala family—literally “of the ladder.”
From the historical record
“SAYER (C), Saer, Sawyer, Carpenter, (v. Timmerman.) SCALA, della (Jt.), of the Ladder. SCARLET (€•)> bright red? (v. Vermiglioli and Rousseau.) SCHAAP (CD.), Sheep, (v. le Mouton and Kalf.) 9 66”
— Surnames