Sola

Recorded in several forms including Solano and Solana (Spanish) Sola, Solane, and Solanas (Catalan), Soula and Soulanet, (Provencal), this is a surname of ultimately Roman (Latin) origins. It derives from "sol" meaning sun, and is locational from one of the many places in for instance the Spanish provinces of Burgos and Malaga, whose name means "a place exposed to the sun". It is therefore a locational surname, which was one generally given to people after they had left their original homes to move somewhere else. In medieval times the easiest way to identify a strnager or new neighbour, was to call him and sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being at best erratic and local and regional accents very thick, soon lead to the development of alternative or variant spellings, as with this name. The Romans occupied most of the Iberian Peninsular containing Spain and Portugal from the First to the Fifth centuries a.d., and one of their legacies has been the extraordinary number of surnames which do originate from Latin words. This is one of them.