Costa

also Coste, Della Costa

Of the slope or shore — a name shared with Portugal.

Origin: Italian
Register: Italian family

The seat of Costa

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Costa community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Costa has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Costa clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

Help rebuild the Costa clan →

What does the Costa name mean?

Topographic — from costa, a 'coast', 'slope' or 'rib' of land — for a family on a hillside or shore.

The history of Costa

Costa names the rib of the land — a slope, a hillside, a stretch of coast — and the family that held the high or shoreward ground. Identical in form to the Portuguese Costa, it is one of the names the Latin tongues arrived at in parallel, and it travelled in both the Italian and Portuguese migrations across the Atlantic.

Also found in

The Costa name has substantial historical presence beyond Italian. See it on Portuguese and Spanish.

Explore With Your Ancestors · Beta

Chat with your Costa ancestorsWalk in →

Pick any year from 500 to 1945 and any place on earth — the Costa country, or a shore no Costa ever reached. The chronicler sets the scene; the deeds are yours.

Frequently asked

What does the surname Costa mean?

Topographic — from costa, a 'coast', 'slope' or 'rib' of land — for a family on a hillside or shore. Costa names the rib of the land — a slope, a hillside, a stretch of coast — and the family that held the high or shoreward ground.

Is Costa a Italian surname?

Costa is primarily a Italian surname; it also has substantial historical presence in Portuguese and Spanish. The editorial home of the name in this atlas is Italian, where the record is densest, with the cross-border presence noted under "Also found in".

How old is the Costa surname?

Costa names the rib of the land — a slope, a hillside, a stretch of coast — and the family that held the high or shoreward ground. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Costa name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Costa family known for?

Of the slope or shore — a name shared with Portugal. Costa names the rib of the land — a slope, a hillside, a stretch of coast — and the family that held the high or shoreward ground.

Is Coste the same family as Costa?

Yes. Coste is a historical spelling variant of the Costa name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Della Costa the same family as Costa?

Yes. Della Costa is a historical spelling variant of the Costa name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Costa surname found today?

Italian is the primary historical home of the Costa surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Italian origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Costa family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Costa family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Italian so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Costa family today?

The seat for the head of the Costa family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.