Frequency: (534)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Italian: when not a masculinized form of Motta, from a shortened pet form of a personal name ending in -mo.
2. Scottish: perhaps a habitational name from a lost place named with Middle English motte ‘fortified stronghold’ + ho(e) ‘ridge’, ‘hill’.
GIVEN NAMES: Italian 7%. Rocco (4), Salvatore (2), Carmela, Carmelo, Carmine, Primo, Vita.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
