Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Spanish and Catalan ((de) Falla) : probably a nickname from Catalan falla ‘torch’ or ‘bonfire’ (in particular one which was lit in the streets of a city on public festivals), or an occupational name for one who lit such a bonfire.
  • Spanish : perhaps a nickname from falla ‘flaw’, ‘error’, ‘doubt’ (Latin falla).
  • Scottish : habitational name from any of various places named Falla, Fala, or Fallaw, especially Fala in Midlothian. The second element is probably law ‘hill’.
  • Norwegian : habitational name from a farm so named in southeastern Norway, so named from fall ‘fall’, probably with reference to the site of a landside or to tree felling.