Type Surname (from location)
Pronounced Pron. /ˈpan.t͡sa/(Italian)  [key·simplify]

Meaning & History

From a variant of the Italian word pancia meaning "stomach, paunch", originally a nickname for a chubby person. The Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes used it in his novel Don Quixote (1605), where it is the surname of Don Quixote's squire Sancho Panza. Not a common Spanish surname, Cervantes may have based it directly on the Spanish word panza (a cognate of the Italian word).

Related Names

Rootpantex

Categories

Entry updated October 6, 2024