The Origins of the Surname Bota: From Persia to Spain

The Origins of the (Surname) Bota: From Persia to Spain reinterprets the surname Bota through a multidisciplinary lens—combining historical onomastics, archival sources, and qualitative genetic correlations (Y-DNA Haplogroup J-C127097). Traditional Iberian etymologies derive Bota from the Latin bōta (“boot”), yet evidence from Morisco records, Persian lexemes, and archaeogenetic modeling indicate an eastern Iranian origin in بُتّه (boteh/buta), meaning "idol", “shrub", or “flame." Drawing on sources such as Ana Labarta’s La Onomástica de los Moriscos Valencianos, Ibn Bashkuwāl’s Kitāb al-Ṣila, and comparative population data from MyTrueAncestry, DNAGenics, and related datasets, the author situates the Bota lineage within Sarmatian–Sasanian–Khorasan genetic clusters and the historical Persian diaspora in al-Andalus.The paper aims to restore a suppressed cultural identity by integrating linguistic, documentary, and biological evidence, proposing that Bota represents a Persian–Morisco survival rather than a Romance occupational name. *Version 2 adds a deeper and more critical historical, genealogical, and genetic analysis of the Bota lineage.