Ochoa

Ochoa ( or ''Otsoa'') is a Spanish surname of Basque origin common throughout Spain, France, the Americas, and the Philippines. It is a surname of patronymic origin; it was originally a given name in Medieval Spain.

The name originated in the Basque Country and means "the wolf", from the Basque vocabulary word ''otso''/''otxo'' meaning "wolf" (the suffix -a in the Basque language represents the definite article). In Standard Basque, the name is spelled ''otsoa'' or ''otxoa''. There was also a female given name ''Ochanda'' (meaning "female wolf", cf. the elegant tower in the old quarter of Vitoria-Gasteiz named after Ochanda, proper name of the daughter of a man responsible for revamping the tower in the 16th century) and ''Ochotorena ''or'' Otxotorena'', meaning "son of Ochoto" (literally "small wolf"). The Spanish equivalent of this Basque given name was Lope, also appearing in the names of Gascon lords in the High Middle Ages. Provided by Wikipedia