Family name origins & meanings
- Northern Italian : habitational name from any of various places named with rota ‘wheel’, in particular Rota d’Imagna in Bergamo and Rota Greca in Cosenza.
- Italian : from a short form of Buonarrota, Buonarroto, an omen name meaning ‘good addition’.
- Spanish : habitational name from a place in the province of Cádiz, so named from Latin rota ‘wheel’.
- Greek (Rotas) : from the vocabulary word rota ‘course (of a ship)’ (from Italian rotta, French route), hence perhaps an occupational nickname for a steersman.