Acconcio ItalianFrom the medieval Italian given names
Accuntius or
Acconcius, of uncertain meaning.
Agnusdei ItalianFrom Latin
Agnus Dei meaning
"lamb of God". This was a nickname for someone who was particularly religious or someone who wore this symbol.
Alderisi ItalianMeans
"son of Alderissius", a Latinized form of a Germanic name of unknown meaning.
Altamura ItalianFrom the name of the Italian city of Altamura, which means "high walls" in Italian.
Avellino ItalianFrom the name of a town in Campania, Italy, called
Abellinum in Latin, of unknown meaning.
Barsotti ItalianProbably from the medieval Latin word
baro meaning
"man, freeman" (of Frankish origin).
Bellandi ItalianMeans
"son of Bellando", from a medieval given name derived from Latin
bellandus meaning "which is to be fought".
Benenati ItalianMeans
"son of Benenato", a given name derived from Latin
bene "good, well" and
natus "good".
Bondesan ItalianVenetian name derived from the name of the town of Bondeno in northern Italy.
Borgnino ItalianFrom a nickname derived from the Piedmontese dialect word
borgno meaning
"one-eyed". This was the real surname of American actor Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012).
Borgogni ItalianFrom the name of the French region of Burgundy (called Bourgogne in French), which is named after the Germanic tribe the Burgundians, meaning "people from the high land".
Brioschi ItalianDerived from the town of Briosco, near Milan. It may be of Lombardic origin.
Capitani ItalianOccupational name meaning
"captain" in Italian, ultimately from Latin
caput "head".
Corleone Sicilian, LiteratureFrom the name of the town of Corleone in Sicily, which is of uncertain meaning. This surname is well known from the novel
The Godfather (1969) by Mario Puzo, as well as the films based on his characters. The story tells how Vito Andolini comes to America from Sicily, receiving the new surname
Corleone at Ellis Island, and starts a criminal empire based in New York.
Di Caprio ItalianFrom the name of the island of Capri near Naples, itself possibly derived from Latin
capra meaning "goat" or Greek
κάπρος (kapros) meaning "wild boar".
Esposito ItalianMeans
"exposed" in Italian and denoted a child who was rescued after being abandoned by its parents.
Fiscella ItalianDerived from Italian
fiscella, which was a basket used to conserve cheese. The name was probably used to denote a person who made cheese.
Franzese ItalianFrom a nickname that indicated a person who came from France. It is typical of the area around Naples.
Garofalo ItalianFrom a nickname, from a southern variant of the Italian word
garofano meaning
"carnation".
Grimaldi ItalianFrom the given name
Grimaldo. It is the surname of the royal family of Monaco, which came from Genoa.
Labriola ItalianOriginally indicated a person from the town of Abriola in southern Italy.
Lombardi ItalianOriginally indicated someone who came from the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which was named for the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who invaded in the 6th century. Their name is derived from the Old German roots
lang "long" and
bart "beard".
Luzzatto ItalianFrom an Italian form of
Lusatia, a region of eastern Germany.
Marchesi ItalianFrom the Italian title
marchese meaning
"marquis". It was probably a nickname for a person who behaved like a marquis or worked in the household of a marquis.
Montagna ItalianMeans
"mountain" in Italian, from Latin
montanus, indicating a person who lived on or near a mountain.
Nervetti ItalianPossibly a nickname for an innkeeper, from archaic Milanese
nervètt, a local meal prepared from a calf.
Nicastro ItalianFrom the name of the town of Nicastro in Calabria, southern Italy.
Nicolosi ItalianFrom the name of the town Nicolosi on Sicily, itself named for Saint Nicholas.
Noschese ItalianFrom the name of the town of Nusco in Campania, southern Italy.
Padovano ItalianOriginally denoted one who came from the city of Padua in Italy, from Italian
Padova, itself from Latin
Patavium, of unknown meaning.
Provenza ItalianFrom the name of the Provence region of southern France (in Italian
Provenza). It is derived from Latin
provincia "province", a territorial division.
Pugliese ItalianFrom an adjectival derivative of Puglia, from Latin
Apulia, a region of southeast Italy containing the boot heel and some of the coastline of the Adriatic Sea. It is a regional name for someone from that region.
Roncalli ItalianFrom the names of places like Ronco or Ronchi, quite common in northern Italy, derived from
ronco meaning "cleared land, terraced land". It was the surname of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (1881-1963), the pope John XXIII.
Sabbadin ItalianFrom a nickname from Italian
sabbato "Saturday", a name for one born on that day of the week.
Speziale ItalianMeans
"grocer" in Italian, derived from Latin
speciarius "spice seller".