Shortening of African American names that start with la, such as Latasha and Latanya for females and LaShawn and Lashay for males. May also be used on its own, as in the case of one of the middle names of Jermaine La Juane Jackson, the son of Jermaine Jackson.
Meaning unknown. This name is borne by a character in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan series. La is the queen and high priestess of Opar, a lost city in the jungles of Africa.