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Meaning & History
Possibly from a contraction of Bevilacqua, an Italian surname that was originally a nickname derived from the expression bevi l'acqua meaning "drinks water", probably applied ironically to a heavy drinker of alcohol. In Dante's 'Purgatorio', Belacqua was a Florentine lute-maker famed for his laziness, representing those who wait until the last opportunity before turning to God. Samuel Beckett used the name for his character Belacqua Shuah. It was also used as a surname by author Philip Pullman for the heroine of his fantasy trilogy 'His Dark Materials': Lyra Belacqua.