Hi s8yfoog!
I found a thoroughly researched answer to your question on the "Loya
Family Genealogy Forum" at Genealogy.com. The following message was
posted by "Alex Loya" explaining in detail the origin of the "Loya"
surname:
----------------------------------------------------
"The surname Loya is a phonetic modification of 3 older surnames, all
originaly from Italy: Loggia denoting an atrium, Logia denoting a
speaker, and Loia denoting a miner. Loggia/Loya originates from the
frankish Loge, finding its solar in Central Italy, having been
imported by Frankish invaders around the 7th century. The word "loya"
was briefly used in Spain in the 13th century to denote an atrium, the
same as "loggia", being carried there by Italian immigrant clans. This
word, however, did not survive in Spain due to its foreigness to the
Spanish language even at that time. Loya/Logia comes from the Greek
word "logia", being carried by ancient Greek immigrants to Sicily. The
phrase "ta logia" is found in the Bible and is translated as a person
who speaks as the "oracles of God" i.e. a preacher. Loya/Loia means
literally "dirty" in the Tuscan dialect. It originated in Tuscany and
was carried to Sardinia and Liguria in the 13th century, by miners,(in
Sardinia, the Loia/Loya solar is to be found in the Tirso Valley along
the Tirso River) and Navarre in the Basque country on the border
between Spain and France in the 16th century, at the height of the 400
year occupation of Italy by Spain. This is the origin of the modern
Loyas who find their solar in Navarre. All these areas in which the
surname Loya/Loia is found are historically linked in Italian history
since these areas, Tuscany, Liguria, Sardinia and Navarre were under
Spanish rule (Navarre didn't actually become a full part of Spain but
until the 1830's, prior to that it had the same status of Spanish
dominion as those Italian provinces, ruled by Spanish viceroys)and
fought a common enemy, the Arabic Moors. In fact the Spanish word for
buck private "sardo" finds its origin in troops from Sardinia, the
"Sardos", who fought for Spain in the Battle of Lepanto. The noble
house of De Loya was evidently an Italian house which was granted land
and a title of nobility in Spain around the latter part of the 16th
century since there are no records or coat of arms of the House of
Loya found in Navarre in Aoiz and Ezprogri, which is the surname's
solar in Spain, prior to the 17th century. The oldest records of Loya
in Spain are found in the 17th century, with the particle "De" added,
"De Loya" , which indicates a confered title of nobility (El Libro
Viejo de Armeria de Navarra). At that time the Spanish kings were
granting such titles and land in Spanish domains to some of their
Italian subjects, whom they considered Spanish subjects. Apparently,
the Spanish title of nobility was granted to some of these Italian
Loya/Loias along with some land to migrate to Spain (Navarre, then a
Basque dominion ruled by Spanish viceroys), since the surname Da Loia
is still found in Italy today. The surname Loya/Loia is evidently a
survival of the extinct Etruscan language since, according to the
"Dizionario Etimologico Italiano" by Alessio and Battisti, it excludes
Latin both phonetically and semantically, which means it is extremely
ancient. The Etruscan language was already extinct as a language by
the time of Christ, surviving as a dialect until about the 5th century
when it disappeared completely. Through the centuries, however, some
words, names and pagan prayers survived among villagers in remote
areas of Tuscany in what is known as the Etruscan sub-stratum of the
Tuscan dialect to this day. Tuscan villagers would secretly pray
Etruscan pagan prayers as late as the end of the 19th century(In
Search of the Etruscans).The Etruscan word "loia" meaning "dirty" or
more accurately "a layer of dirt on the skin or clothes" as in dirty
clothing, was preserved , and at some point began to be used as a
surname,"Loia", denoting a family or group of miners who get very
dirty, among these Tuscan villagers, who carried it to the other areas
as explained. It was modified to Loya to conform to its new
environment. The Italian name Loiaconio/Loyaconio, Loiacano/Loyacano
is a compunded form of the same name. I hope you find this information
interesting and elucidating."
- posted by "Alex Loya" (September 24, 1999)
http://genforum.genealogy.com/loya/messages/21.html
----------------------------------------------------
Sources:
Genealogy.com - Loya Family Genealogy Forum
http://genforum.genealogy.com/loya/
Helm's Genealogy toolbox - Loya
http://www.genealogytoolbox.com/people_cat4.cfm?ID=4570
Related links:
Ancestry.com message board - "Loya board"
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/board/an/surnames.loya
Search terms used:
[ etymology spanish surnames ]
[ origin surnames loya ]
----------------------------------------------------
I hope this information is useful to you.
If you would like any clarification on this answer, please let me
know.
regards,
Jack |
Clarification of Answer by
jackburton-ga
on
10 May 2003 03:43 PDT
Hi again s8yfoog!
I've managed to make contact with Alex Loya!
I sent him an email re. his sources of information/credentials -
please see his response below...
--------------------------------------------
Response received from Alex Moya (10th May 2003):
I did the research on my family origin for the purpose of writing a
book to leave for my children and to preserve our heritage. I entitled
the book "Storia Della Famiglia Loia/Loya" or History of the Loya
Family. I have never published the book, I wrote it for my immediate
family, I only printed a few copies for my brother and sisters off the
disk into which I typed the book. I still have to go back and iron the
book out on the disk. The story of the Loya surname is one chapter of
the book in which I wrote about other Italian surnames in my family.
As far as my credentials to do the research, I have ten years of full
time, formal study in the field of Theology and Biblical Research, I
am an ordained Baptist minister and a theologian. I have an earned
Bachelor of Theology, Master of Divinity and Doctor of Theology
Degrees. Next week I will complete my second Master of Divinity Degree
from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The reason I pursued a
second Master of Divinity Degree is because I don't put much weight on
my previous Master and Doctoral Degrees because they are from a lesser
institution. My ten years of formal education consist of two years of
basic secular college leading to a 4 year degree, upon completion of
the basic two years, I transfered to a theological school and
completed 4 more years of full time, formal theological and Biblical
study, then I moved on to graduate school and completed 2 years of the
Master of Divinity at NOBTS.
Because of circumstances I could not continue to attend school at
NOBTS, so I transfered my credits to another seminary where I put in
another year and finished up the Master of Divinity Degree and the
Doctor of Theology Degree. Last year, I came back to pick up where I
left off at NOBTS and I am presently one week away from completing my
second Master of Divinity Degree and my tenth year of formal higher
education. Thus far, I have graduated with honors at all levels. I
have 16 years of ministry experience, four of which are teaching
Systematic Theology and Old Testament Prophets at college level.
Presently I am about to start teaching Systematic Theology again at a
local Bible College and History, Biblical Studies and Theology at
another local Bible College.
As far as the sources for my research, I do have an extensive
bibliography. I used the help of a geneological institute in Italy,
the Istituto Araldico Coccia, out of Florence, to begin the formal
research ( I had to do research to find the genealogical institute to
begin with. I found several, but only the Istituto Araldico Coccia
answered my inquiry) I researched the Mormon Archives, and I used
numerous books in my research, in English, Spanish, and Italian, from
genealogy and genealogical encyclopedias to history and linguistics. I
mention some of the books in the summary I shared with people at the
website you found. I did not use the Internet because it was not
available back then. It took me several years to complete my research.
For a complete bibliography I would have to cut and paste it to an
email and send it to you. If you want me to do so, it would have to
wait a few weeks because I am really busy finishing up at school,
rasing a family and working. I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Alex Loya
--------------------------------------------
You can contact Alex here:
The Knowing God Broadcast
PO Box 1401
Covington, Louisiana 70434
Tel: 1-504-849-1322
Fax: 1-504-849-1320
Email: AlexLoya@integrity.com
I hope this helps you!
If you need further clarification before rating answer, please let me
know.
best regards,
Jack
|