Italian surname Michienzi
Hello all!

My SO's last name is Michienzi, and it is known that his grandfather is from the Calabria region, although the name of the town escapes me at present. But the point is:

What does it mean? I've been looking at dictionaries and i can't find any words with "mich" as a root. I tried "mic" and "mici" and "micc" (i don't speak italian one bit, so i'm guessing about how roots evolve in italian) and the only things that look remotely likely are amichevole (friendly, amicable) and formichie\re (tapir) although i suspect that "form" is the root of that word, and it was a false hit.

Any clues, guys?

Thanks so much

Kira
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Replies

Most of the Michienzi came from FILADELFIA, now near VIBO VALENZIA.
At the moment many Micchienzi live near CATANZARO at CURINGA or of course in FILADELFIA.
Michienzi is a very local surname. Up till now it is possible that
nobody has studied it.
It could be a variant of MICHELI or MICHI, that is a surname that came from the personal first name MICHELE (Michael). Is it possible?
I don't know.
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Thanks, Giacomo. I want to assume from you username that you have a little Italian? And therefore know of which you speak? I appreciate you sharing your expertise.

From what i can tell, -enzi is the adjective suffix, so if Mich is the root, and it is the same Mich as in Michael, then i have something to work with. I never thought to assume it might be that obvious. Too obvious.....:)

Thanks for the input!
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I am italian in fact, I live near MILANO.
What I want to explain you is that as to the local surnames as Michienzi it takes time to discover the real meaning.
Michele is a possibility but if the surname comes from a nickname for instance it could be more difficult.

Regards
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