Origins of Italian Names

June 27, 2023

I have seen a lot of posts with people asking about the Origins of Italian names. There’s a lot of information and articles on the web. I’ll sum it up and attach some links so that they are easy to find.

First Names

Like most European countries, Italian names consist of a First Name ( nome ) and last name ( cognome ). In ancient Rome, they used three names a given name, a gentile name and a hereditary name. Italians ( even to this day ) also celebrate “name day”, which is the feast day of the saint that they are named after. I remember my dad Nicholas, always getting a card from my grandmother on Dec. 6.

Now I think we all have the family with 3 cousins named Luigi, Francesco, Paulo, Pietro etc. I am sure you are aware of this convention.

There has been a strong custom in Italy that determines how children are named:

  • The first male is named after his paternal grandfather.

  • The second male is named after his maternal grandfather.

  • The first female is named after her paternal grandmother.

  • The second female is named after her maternal grandmother.

For information on this topic, especially if you are doing family research, this Italian Naming Conventions article on Italian Genealogy will help. For Sicilian information you can go to Fonderia USA.

Origin of Italian First Names — Handy for those looking for traditional names

Surnames

Italian’s have the largest number of surnames in the world, over 350,000!

Pretty cool video map. Find your name and it shows you areas on a map.

A large number of Italian surnames end in i, due to the medieval Italian habit of identifying families by the name of the ancestors in the plural (which have an -isuffix in Italian). For instance, Filippo from the Ormanno family (gli Ormanni) would be called “signor Filippo degli Ormanni” (“Mr. Filippo of the Ormannos”). In time, the middle possessive portion (“of the”) was dropped, but surnames became permanently pluralized and never referred to in the singular, even for a single person. Filippo Ormanno would therefore be known as Filippo Ormanni.[9]Some families, however, opted to retain the possessive portion of their surnames, for instance Lorenzo de’ Mediciliterally means “Lorenzo of the Medici” (de’is a contraction of dei, also meaning “of the”; c.f. The Medicis).

Suffixes

Some common suffixes indicate endearment (which may also become pluralized and receive an -iending), for example:

  • -ello/illo/etto/ino(diminutive“little”), e.g., Bernardello, Iannuccillo, Bortoletto, Bernardino, Ravellino, Verdino

  • -one/ne(augmentative“big”), e.g., Mangione, Bellone, Capone, Pastene, Mantone, Vallone

  • -accio/azzo/asso(pejorative[10]), e.g., Boccaccio, Terrazzo, Varasso

Other endings are characteristic of certain regions:[6]

  • Veneto: -asso, -ato/ati, and consonants (l, n, r); -on: Bissacco, Zoccarato, Cavinato, Brombal, Meneghin, Perin, Vazzoler, Peron, Francescon, Zanon, Fanton, Pizzati

  • Sicily: -aro, -isiand “osso”: Cavallaro, Cherisi, Rosi, Rosso (Sicily, Piedmont and Veneto)

  • Lombardyand Piemont: -ago/ghi(of Celticderivation), -engo/enghi(of Germanicderivation): Salmoiraghi, Ornaghi, Vernengo, Martinengo, Giordanengo, Lambertenghi

  • Lombardy: -ate/ati/atti: Lunati, Bonatti, Moratti, Orsatti

  • Piedmont: -ero, -audi, -asco,-zzi, -anti, -ini: Ferrero, Rambaudi, Comaco, Bonazzi, Santi, Baldovini

  • Friuli: -otti/uttiand -t: Bortolotti, Pascutti, Codutti, Rigonat, Ret

  • Tuscany: -aiand -aci/ecci/ucci: Bollai, Balducci, Martaci

  • Sardinia: -u, -asand -is: Pusceddu, Piccinnu, Schirru, Marras, Argiolas, Floris, Melis, Abis

  • Calabria: -ace: Storace

  • Campania: -iello: Borriello, Aiello, Manganiello

  • Abruzzo: -us, -isand -iisthat stem from traditional Latin names: Fidelibus, De Sanctis, De Laurentis

Origins

As in most other European naming traditions, patronymicsare common. Originally they were indicated by a possessive, e.g., Francesco de Bernardo, meaning “Francis (the son) of Bernard”. De Luca(“[son] of Luke”) remains one of the most common Italian surnames. However, de(“of”) was often dropped and suffixes added, hence de Bernardoevolved to be Bernardoand eventually pluralized as Bernardi(see Suffixesabove).

The origin or residence of the family gave rise to many surnames, e.g.,

  • Habitat: Della Valle(“of the valley”), Montagna(“mountain”).

  • Specific placename:

    • Abbruzzesi/Abbruzzi/Abruzzi/Abruzzese/Abruzzesi/D’Abbruzzo/D’Abruzzo(“Abruzzan”/”of Abruzzo“/”from Abruzzo“)

    • Benevento/Di Benevento/Beneventano(“Beneventan”/”from Benevento“)

    • Albanese/Albanesi(“Albanian“/”from Albania“)

    • Bologna/Bologni/Bolognese/Bolognesi(“Bolognan”/”from Bologna“)

    • Bresci/(De) Brescia/Bresciani/Bresciano/Brescianini(“Brescian”/”from Brescia“)

    • Calabrese/Calabresi/Calabria(“Calabrian”/”from Calabria“)

    • Campaniano/Campano/Campana(“Campanian”/”from Campania“)

    • Casertano(“Casertanian”/”from Caserta“)

    • Catalani/Catalano(“Catalan“/”from Catalonia“)

    • Catanese/Catanesi/Catania(“Catanian”/”from Catania“/”from the province of Catania“)

    • Emiliani/Emiliano(“Emilian“/”from Emilia“)

    • Fiorentini/Fiorentino/Firenze/Florenzi(“Florentine”/”from Florence“)

    • Franzese/Franzesi(“French“/”from France“)

    • De Genova/Di Genova/Genova/Genovese/Genovesi(“Genoan”/”from Genoa“)

    • Greco(“Greek“)

    • De Lucca/Di Lucca/Lucca/Lucchesi/Lucchese(“Luccan”/”from Lucca“)

    • Maltese/Maltesi(“Maltese“/”from Malta“)

    • De Milano/Di Milano/Milano/Milanese/Milanesi(“Milanese”/”from Milan“)

    • De Napoli/Di Napoli/Napoli/Napoletani/Napoletano/Napolitani/Napolitano(“Neapolitan“/”from Naples“)

    • Da Padova/Di Padova/Padova/Padovani/Padovano/Patavini/Patavino/Padovan(“Paduan”/”from Padua“)

    • (Di) Palermo/Palermitani/Palermitano(“Palermitan”/”from Palermo“)

    • De Pisa/Di Pisa/Pisa/Pisani/Pisano(“Pisan”/”from Pisa“)

    • Portoghese/Portoghesi(“Portuguese“/”from Portugal“)

    • Puglisi/Pugliese(“Apulian“/”from Apulia”)

    • Romagnoli/Romagnolo(“Romagnan”/”from Romagna“)

    • Romana/Romani/Romano(“Roman”/”from Rome“)

    • Salerno/Salernitani/Salernitano(“Salernitan”/”from Salerno“)

    • Sardo(“Sardinian“/”from Sardinia“)

    • Siciliana/Siciliani/Siciliano(“Sicilian”/”from Sicily“)

    • Spagnola/Spagnoli/Spagnolo/Spagnuola/Spagnuoli/Spagnuolo(“Spaniard“, “Spanish“, “from Spain“)

    • Svizzera/Svizzeri/Svizzero(“Swiss“/”from Switzerland“)

    • Tedeschi/Tedesco/Tedisco/Todeschi/Todesco(“German“/”from Germany“)

    • Toscani/Toscano(“Tuscan”/”from Tuscany“)

    • Trapanese/Trapanesi(“Trapanese”/”from Trapani“/”from the province of Trapani“)

    • Umbro(“Umbrian”/”from Umbria“)

    • Veneziani/Veneziano(“Venetian”/”from Venice“)

    • Veronese/Veronesi(“from Verona“)

  • Nearby landmarks: La Porta(“the gate”), Fontana(“fountain”), Torregrossa(“big tower”).

Ancestors’ occupation was also a great source of surnames.

  • Job title: Pastore(“shepherd”), Tagliabue(“ox-cutter”), Passafiumeand Passalacqua(“waterman”).

  • Objects (metonyms) associated with the vocation: Zappa(“hoe”, farmer), Delle Fave(“of the beans”, grocer), Martelli(“hammers”, carpenter), Tenaglia(“pincer”, smith), Farina(“flour”, baker), Garitta/Garita(“garitta di vedetta“), Forni(“ovens”, cook), Ferraro(“blacksmith”).

Nicknames, referring to physical attributes or mannerism, also gave rise to some family names, e.g., Rossi(from rosso“redhead“), Basso(“short”), Caporaso(“shaved or bald head”), Pappalardo(“lard-eater”, originally an abusive nickname for one who professed himself a devout person but ate meat and fatty dishes in forbidden times),[12]and Barbagelata(“frozen beard”).

A few family names are still in the original Latin, like Santorum, De Juliisand De Laurentiis, reflecting that the family name has been preserved from Medieval Latinsources as a part of their business or household documentation or church records.

For more articles on the topic you can visit.

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