I just came across some history that may explain the name De la O. In the 15th Century in many Italian City-States, Jews were required by law to wear a yellow cloth badge in the form of a circle (to remind people of the coins of Judas). The badge was called the “segne del O” or in English “the sign of the O.” My guess is that similar laws were in effect in Spain and that the name De la O refers to this badge.
If this is the case, then it might explain the many New Mexicans who have this name and that it was attched to families who emigrated to New Mexico from Mexico to escape the Inquisition. These families, originally Jewish, are referred to as “conversos” in New Mexico as they nominally converted to Christianity to avoid persecution.
See Ross King’s book “Leonardo and the Last Supper”, pages 236 and following for an explanationof the “segne del O.”
The full firtsname is María de la O and refers to Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, aka La Virgen de la O: “Our Lady of Good Hope”, pregnant images of Our Lady. The “O” refers to the ready-to-pop belly.
Is this our first pregnant zombie?
Ochoa is a Basque masculine noun meaning wolf; while the surname Ochoa is the most common Basque-origin one, “de la Ochoa” makes no grammatical sense (it could be “de Ochoa”, but never “de la Ochoa”) - that person’s family tale was mistaken.
I’m showing up several years late this this party. This was my Grandpa’s and Great Uncle’s TV show, the Val De La O show. It was really a success with humble beginnings.
I’m told it originates from Spain, and long before that, France, where the name used to be 'De La Eaux" which meant “from the waters”
Hmm, probably not quite. Although eau “water” is feminine, the definite article before the initial vowel is elided to l’eau, not la eau.
Moreover, the plural form eaux would require the plural article, so it would be les eaux, not la eaux. And with the de preposition it would become des eaux.
However, if you use the correct singular form de l’eau, that would plausibly hispanicize to De La O. Which is the etymology suggested in, for example, this source:
On the other hand, as previous posters have noted, there’s already a well attested indigenous Spanish etymology for the Virgin Mary as “Nuestra Señora de la O”, so maybe this whole French-origin hypothesis is just a hareng rouge.
There is a French family, surnamed d’O, who trace their origin back to a knight banneret of Normandy, Robert d’O, in the time of William the Conqueror. They were lords of a town — named O — near the Orne River in Normandy. My Googling offers no further comment about the name, let alone surprise over its brevity.
There are a great many place names in the French-speaking world that begin with Haute- (meaning “upper” and pronounced a bit like the English word “oat”, but with the “t” sound unaspirated). Examples include Haute-Savoie, Haute-Garonne, Haute-Vienne, and Haute-Loire. There are no doubt toponymic surnames for these places, such as de la Haute-Savoie (meaning “of Upper Savoy”). It’s not inconceivable that some such names may have gotten shortened to “de la O”, particularly upon immigration to an English-speaking country.
