Exploring Italian Surnames
Is there anything better than an Italian sounding surname? Not to these ears! The combination of consonants and vowels rolls off the tongue to create poetry. These names aren’t just fun to say, however, they also come with over a millenia of historical depth. According to ISTAT, no country on earth has more last names (cognomi) than Italy, with over 350,000! Although Italy has been inhabited for thousands of years, most of the surnames originated in the middle ages. This was a time of great upheaval on the peninsula, with descendents of the Roman empire coalescing with Byzantine, Arabic, Gothic, and Norman invaders and later French, German, and Spanish rulers to form the current Italian identity. This brought foreign words, but also different pronunciations and spellings of existing words in new dialects of Latin. The relatively late standardization of Italian and unification of Italy means that there are often dozens of distinct surnames that carry the same connotation. Ranging from two to eighteen letters, these names can tell you a lot about the family history as well as where in Italy the family hails from. Let’s focus on the meanings of some popular last names in this first post!
Construction of a Cognome:
In ancient rome, the Cognomen (“with name”) was a nickname tacked onto to your other two names. Over time, the cognomen became hereditary, and was identified with a family name. This convention continued across the Europe in the middle ages, and so American last names and their Italian counterparts are formed in similar ways. We can break down the origin of last names into four main categories: Given names, nicknames (personal characteristics), occupations, and geography. One last note before we dive in … not all of these last names are literal translations into Italian. Several use different dialects and have different suffixes, so the english word in parentheses is really the word linked to that last name.
Given Names (Patronyms):
Names based on the progenitor of the family are omnipresent in northern europe and the United States (Johnson, O’Brien, Romanov, etc.), and while they aren’t as dominant in Italy, there are still many names that fit in this category. There are a few key patterns to how these names are formed.
The simplest patronymic surnames present the name in the same way as it is written in a given name, such as Donato, Orlando and Ruggiero, the last two being Germanic names that became popular from the same work of medieval literature. It’s more common to see the ending O replaced with an I to signify the family connection, as in the cases of Abrami, Adami, Albertini, and Alessi, and that’s just a few of the A’s. Costantini, Fillipi, Giuliani, Rinaldi, and Valentini are some other popular last names formed in this manner.
Another simple and and easy to recognize style includes a common male given name preceded by some form of the preposition “of” (di, de, d’). The most prevalent of these surnames is De Luca, but D’Angelo, Di Francesco, De Marco, D’Agostino, Di Matteo, D’Antonio, Di Biagio, and De Vito are just some of the thousands of names set up this way.
More complex endings, such as -ate, -ace, -ini, -ino, -one, -ito, -etto, and -elli also get tacked on to names to form distinct monikers. To illustrate this, let’s examine the given name that reigns supreme as the root of the highest number of unique surnames in Italy, and possibly the world … Giovanni (John). It’s here where we can truly see how the diverse linguistic traditions plus a seemingly endless stream of suffixes can combine to create the massive number of Italian cognomi. Surnames starting with Gian, Zan, Ian, Van, and even Scia usually imply a progenitor named Giovanni. Those roots combine with diminutives (ino, ini, etto, etti, illo, elli), augmentatives (one, otto, oni, otti), and several other suffixes to create almost a hundred last names. A Iannone (Big John from the south) and Zanetti (Little John from the north), might not know it, but their great-great……….great-great grandfather shared the same name.
What happens when you don’t have a family that can pass their name on to you? In Italy, the names Esposito (cast out) and Innocenti (innocent) were given to orphans or children put up for adoption. But those technically count in the nickname category …
Personal Characteristics:
Many of the most popular Italian surnames are based on personal characteristics that inspired nicknames. In fact, Italian last names are much more likely to be based on physical and personality traits than the most popular American last names. For example, those with red hair, which might make you stand out in Italy, developed cognomi that matched their physical appearance. The Italian word rosso (red) has given birth to Italy’s most popular last names. When you consider the fact that Rossi, Russo, De Rossi, La Russa, Rossato, Rosselini, Rossetti, Russini, Rossillo, and several others (most of which contain an initial r and a double s) all convey the same characterstic.
Appropriate for a country with where having nice hair is valued, there are several other names referring to the hue of both hair and skin, including Bianchi/Bianco (White haired or pale) and Biondi/Biondo (Blond haired or light skinned). This being Italy, there are several last names dealing with dark hair, skin and eyes, such as Bruno/Bruni, Nero/Neri/Negro/Negri as well as the less obvious Fusco and Moretti/Morelli/Moro/Morrone, which share a common etymology with the name for the west african country of Mauritania and the Moors. Other surnames related to hair include Ricci/Rizzo/Rizzi/Sgro (Curly haired), Peluso (hairy), and the less enviable Spano (bald).
It may seem like Italians are obsessed with hair, but they aren’t above bequeathing nicknames for other phenotypes as well. It would be ironic for you to carry the last name Piccoli if you’re an NBA center, but perfectly consistent with surnames like Longo/Luongo, Magro, and Leggieri representing a tall and/or slender progenitor. On the flip side, Grasso/Grassi/Grosso represent a … less petite ancestor. Mancini/Mancino/Manco/Mancuso imply that there was a lefty in your family tree, Quattrocchi (four-eyes) means the reason your vision isn’t 20-20 could be hereditary, while Sanna (big tooth) portends a big smile, and Sordi relates to the hearing impaired.
Lest you think appearances are the only thing that matters, personality traits are responsible for names like Felice/Filice/Contento (happy), Acerbi (harsh/severe), Gagliardi (vigorous), and Tosto (tough). Italians are also notorious for naming themselves after other living things that they may resemble, act like, or have around their house. Plants are very popular in this regard, from the obvious Fiore (flower) to Rosa/DeRosa/LaRosa (rose), Viola (violet), Mirtas (myrtle), and Garofalo (carnation). Moving to animals, I think we can all agree that being called Leone (Lion), Lupo (Wolf), Orsini (bear), and Gatto (cat) is cool. Even having a bird cognome such as Aquila (eagle), Corvo/Corvino (Crow), Falco/Falcone (Falcon), and Pavone (peacock) can still be pretty cool I guess. If, however, my nickname were anything to do with insects, such as Grillo (cricket) or Mosconi (fly), I’d probably be looking for new friends. While we’re at it, I do wonder what one had to do to be named after a mythical creature like Drago/Draghi (Dragon).
With the historical strength of the church and faith of the population, it makes sense that a host of Italian surnames have religious undertones. Pellegrino/Pellegrini (Pilgrim), might imply that your family was new to the area, but could also be due to a religious pilgrimage that they made. Similarly, Palmieri/Palmiero implies a voyage to the holy land, where pilgrims would return with palm fronds as a souvenir. There are (unsurprisingly) several other religious themed names in Italy, including a multitude featuring the root word Santo (holy), such as De Santis/De Sanctis. A popular convention for both first and last names is to base them on the subject’s birthday, so Natale/Di Natale (Christmas), Pasqua (Easter), Quaranta/Quaresima (Lent), and Santoro (All Saints Day) are all commonplace. Mariano/Mariani indicate a devotion to the Blessed Mother, while Benedetti/Benedetto means that the forebearer was blessed by God. Other names that underscore religious devotion are Amadei (God-lover), Battista (baptist), Croce (cross), Evangelista (evangelist), Malaspina (crown of thorns), Fiero (proud in faith), and Stabile (firm in the faith). At the other end of the spectrum, Pagano might be literal, but it also may mean someone that lives outside of the city in villages.
Occupations:
Occupations are a popular basis for surnames throughout the world, and Italy is no different. The Latin term for iron working is Faber Ferrarius, and so we have the iconic Ferrari, along with Ferraro, Ferri, Fabbri, etc. corresponding to the english Smith and german Schmidt. Molinaro/Molinari and Farina (flour) imply a family history as a miller. Carbone (coal) and its derivatives indicate a past in mining (and we know the favorite pasta dish of miners). There are a multitude of options for those that worked in carpentry, from Serra (saw) to Martelli (hammer) and Mazza (club), whereas Camapnelli points toward one that worked on bells, and Marmo on marble. Other last names linked to crafting of goods include Sacco/Sacchi (sack maker), Scarpa (shoe maker), and the less apparent Tessitore/Tessaro (weaver). Finally, if you’ve got the english last name Taylor, you would go by the name Sartori in Italy.
Moving to urban centers, if your name is Piazza, it means that your family lived or sold goods in the public square as a vendor, and if you specifically ran the local bar, Taverna. Cities also gave rise to names like Barbieri (barber), Cuoco (cook), Panetta (Baker), Giudice (judge), and of course, bureaucracy in the form of Notaro (public administrators).
If you’re a Re (king), Barone (baron), Conte (count), Marchese (marquis), Corona (crown), Nobile (noble), or Basile (regal), then you might have some high class blood in your history, but it’s more likely that you worked for one of those people in power. It is a similar story with religious occupations such as Abate (Abbot), Vescovo (Bishop), and Vicario (Vicar). From the other end of the class hierarchy of the middle ages comes the prevalent Schiavi/Scavo (slave). Those who worked in the military were fittingly called Soldati (soldier), but they also may have been referred to as Guerra/Guerriero (war), Battaglia (battle), and Spada (sword).
Italy has a long history of farming and peasantry, so there’s no surprise at the cornucopia of names that cover these occupations. In addition to the literal latin term Agricola, the name Zappa (hoe) is also linked with a past as a farmer. If your family owned the piece of land they farmed, they might have earned the name Aiello (from the latin for small field). What did people grow on those fields? Names like Olivetti (olives), Fagioli (beans), Meloni (apples), Piras/Pira (pears) and Petrosino (parsley) give big clues. There are also several names that give hints to the animals that the family may have raised (or animals that share characteristics of the family), including Porco/Porciello (pigs), Capra (goats), Agnello/Agnelli (lambs), Pastore/Pecora (shepherd/sheep), Vacca/Vaccaro (Cow, Cowherd), Pesce/Pesci (fish), Gallo (rooster), Polli (chickens), and Colombo/Palumbo (pigeon or dove).
Geography:
The final big category of Italian last names comes from geography, concerning both topographical features and specific place names. Usually these terms were characteristic of the places where families dwelled, and not necessarily physical characteristics (see this guy). Speaking of, Italy is chock full of mountains, from the snowcapped Alps in the north and rugged Appenines down the peninsula, to the volcanoes Vesuvius and Etna in the south. Inhabitants of these zones gained names like Monti/Montanari/Montana/Montagna. Moving down the scale of the features, we see Collina (hill), Motta (mound), and Rocca (rock), while Della Valle refers to those living in the valleys. If you’re living on one of the relatively flat areas in the Belpaese, you might carry the name Campo/Campi (field).
As a peninsula (and two islands) surrounded by the Tyrrhenian, Ionian, Adritatic, and Ligurian branches of the Mediterrannean Sea, to say nothing of the noteworthy rivers and lakes on the interiror, Italy is famous for its water features. This connection to water spawned a myriad of popular names, such as Riva (bank/shore), Costa (coast), Arena (sand), and of course Marino/Marini (pertaining to the sea). Some less popular, but still important, H2O related names include Acqua/Acquaroli (water … duh!), Lago (lake), Fiume (river), and Pozzi (well). Man made features like Castellani (castle) Fontana (fountain), and Torre (tower) are widespread as well.
In addition to those features of the terrain, there are several Italian names which refer to specific places, both inside and outside of Italy. Every city and basically every village is responsible for at least one and usually several cognomi, with Romano, Messina, Milano, Sorrentino, Palermo, Genovese, Baresi, Napolitano, Senese, and Tarantino being a few of the most diffuse that indicate a background in locales both north and south. Italian regions are also well represented as last names, with Lombardo/Lombardi, Calabrese, Pugliese, and Toscano usually more popular outside of their eponymous region than inside it. This demonstrates that a family may have gained the name when they settled in a new region. This is probably also the case for those with last names referring to other European countries that Italy received large migration from, such as Tedesco (Germany), Greco (Greece), Spagnuolo (Spain), Inglese (England), Albanese (Albania), Franzese (France), and Turco (Turkey). There are even specific regions and cities in other countries responsible for popular names, like Castiglia (Castille) Catalano (Catalonia), Provenzano (Provence), and Parisi (Paris).
Finally, what if the only thing people know about you is that you aren’t from around these parts? Straniero/Stranieri means that your family was at one time foreign to their new area.
If you made it all the way to the end, congrats! Stay tuned for part two on what last names tell us about what last names are more prevalent in Italy’s different regions. In the meantime, here are some great resources to peruse that helped me put this together.
