Frequency: (303)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
Italian, Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese: from cava ‘cave’, ‘cellar’ (from Latin cavea), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone employed in the wine cellars of a great house, a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a cave, or a habitational name from any of numerous places named with this word.
GIVEN NAMES: Italian 22%; Spanish 5%. Alfonso (2), Alicia, Angelo (2), Battista, Carmine, Emilio, Eugenio, Fernando, Francisca, Fiore, Franca, Francesca, Giovanni, Pelagia; Luis, Rafael.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
