Arata Family History

Italian (northern): topographic name for someone who lived near an area of cultivated land from (terra) arata ‘cultivated (land)’ or a habitational name from a place called with this word as for example Arata in Piedmont.

Japanese: written 荒田 ‘wild rice paddy’. It is found in the Ryūkyū Islands and listed in the Shinsen shōjiroku.

Another version is 新田 ‘new rice paddy’ but this name is more usually pronounced Nitta or Shinden in Japan proper.

All three names are found in western Japan.