# Etymology: Figueroa - Figaro & Areilla - Ariel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-figueroa-figaro-areilla-ariel/723758 "2015-06-29T05:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-figueroa-figaro-areilla-ariel/723758/1 "2015-06-29T05:15:38Z")
Does the name Figueroa have any relation to the name Figaro? Is the surname Ariella related to the name Ariel? I’ve tried Googling, but not had any luck. Just idle curiosity, no actual genealogy involved. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-figueroa-figaro-areilla-ariel/723758/2 "2015-06-29T05:46:14Z")
As far as we know, the name _Figaro_ was coined by Beaumarchais for the central character in his play, _The Barber of Seville_, and all other uses of the name stem from that. [This source](http://www.behindthename.com/name/figaro) suggests that it may be a rendering of _fils de Caron_, son of Caron, which would make it a reference to Beaumarchais himself - his father’s given name was Caron. The surname _Figueroa_ is older than the name _Figaro_, and so is not derived from it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-figueroa-figaro-areilla-ariel/723758/3 "2015-06-29T05:51:52Z")
Well, there goes half my loaf! Who will bereave me of the other? (Thank you kindly for the answer!) ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-figueroa-figaro-areilla-ariel/723758/4 "2015-06-29T05:52:54Z")
I have never seen _Ariella_ as a surname. The given name _Ariel_ is from Hebrew; _Ariella_ as a given name is regarded as a feminine version of that name, as is _Arielle_ (though in fact I think for Hebrew-speakers the name _Ariel_ is gender-neutral). _Arielli_ is a place-name in Italy, and it’s entirely posssible that a surname like _Ariella_ could develop in Italian or another romance language, and have no connection at all to the Hebrew given name. But whether it did develop independently or not, I can’t say. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-figueroa-figaro-areilla-ariel/723758/5 "2015-06-29T15:12:54Z")
Huh, apparently Ariella might be another form of my great-grandma’s lastname, Arilla. I find a horribly-colored website which indicates that Ariella is listed in a 1495 census as appearing in the city of Saragossa; a check with INE’s [lastnames webpage](http://www.ine.es/apellidos/formGeneralresult.do;jsessionid=EA0175EA75EECD4F4F178F839D51F61A.apellidos01?vista=1) says that currently there are 12 people who have Ariella as 1st lastname and 12 who have it as second, of which 11 and 9 are in Saragossa province. Arilla is more common: some 990 people for each position, mostly in Saragossa and neighboring Huesca. (To see the current distribution of a lastname in Spain, write it where it says _Apellido_ and click _consultar_). I can find information about Arilla originating in Aragon, but nothing minimally solid about how. A page cites speculation that it might be derived from or otherwise linked to the French lastnames Aurillac or Arellac, but it indicates there’s no actual proof. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-figueroa-figaro-areilla-ariel/723758/6 "2015-06-29T20:34:42Z")
It struck me because I know two people (unrelated, I think) with the last name Ariella. (I don’t know them well enough to ask if they know what it comes from.)