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[Surname] Re: Mazzagatti
in reply to a message by Marc
As for its etymology, Mazzagatti can also be compared with some other Italian surnames having a similar meaning, such as Pelagatti (literally 'cat skinner'), Scanagatta (literally 'cat slaughterer'), Pelagagge (literally 'magpie skinner'), etc.
In the past, these expressions were used either as occupational names or as derogatory nicknames: in Old Italian, for example, a 'pelacani' (literally 'dog skinner') was either a tanner or, in a figurative meaning, a "low-class and coarse person" (see http://dizionari.hoepli.it/Dizionario_Italiano/parola/pelacani.aspx?idD=1&Query=pelacani&lettera=P), a 'pelagatti' was a nickname for a 'swindler', a 'cheat' (see http://dizionari.hoepli.it/Dizionario_Italiano/parola/pelagatti.aspx?idD=1&Query=pelagatti&lettera=P), a 'pelagrilli' (literally 'cricket skinner') was a nickname for a 'stingy' or 'tight-fisted' person (see http://dizionari.hoepli.it/Dizionario_Italiano/parola/pelagrilli.aspx?idD=1&Query=pelagrilli&lettera=P), etc.
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According to Fucilla, Mazzagatti belongs with the group of names that have to do with "offensive weapons and defensive armor" such as Tromboni, Pistone, Trabucco, Fucile, Schioppo, Battifuoco, Moschetti, Mascolo, Cannone, and many others which "are apt to indicate makers-dealers or bearers."
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