Ochoa

Ochoa or Otxoa is a Basque surname common throughout Spain, France, and the Americas. 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 “wolf” in the Basque language (spelled otsoa or otxoa in Standard Basque). 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’ (lit. small wolf). The Spanish version of this Basque given name was Lope, also appearing in the names of Gascon lords in the High Middle Ages.