From Greek/Latin 'costa' meaning coast, or a short form of Constantine meaning steadfast.
Costa comes from the Latin costa, meaning "rib" or "coast" — the same root that gives English the words coast, coastal, and the culinary term costilla. In ancient usage, costa referred to the side of the body and by extension to the edge of land meeting sea. The name has functioned primarily as a surname across the Mediterranean — in Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Greece — but its use as a given name carries particular warmth in Southern European and Greek communities, where surnames borrowed as first names signal pride in family lineage and regional identity.
In Greek, the name connects to the tradition of Konstantinos (Constantine), since Costa and Kostas are among the most common Greek diminutives of that imperial name — that of Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor who legalized Christianity and founded Constantinople in the 4th century. In this light, Costa is not merely a geographic word but carries one of history's most consequential names in miniature, worn casually in millions of Greek households as a familiar, affectionate everyday form. Greek communities worldwide have exported Kostas and Costa as standalone names.
The name also resonates through Spanish-language culture: Costa Rica, the "Rich Coast," has made the word geographically iconic, and the name appears across Latin American communities. As a given name in the English-speaking world, Costa is genuinely rare — unusual enough to stand out while remaining instantly pronounceable in any language. It carries the sound of shorelines: warm, open, and oriented toward horizon.