PianaItalian Topographic name from piana ‘plain’, ‘level ground’, from Latin planus, or a habitational name from any of the places named with this word.
PianoItalian Topographic name for someone who lived on a plain or plateau, Italian piano (Latin planum, from the adjective planus ‘flat’, ‘level’).
PicaItalian, Catalan Nickname for a gossipy or garrulous person, from the central-southern Italian word pica ‘magpie’. Compare Picazo.Catalan: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Pica.Catalan: from either pica ‘pointed object’ (weapon, etc.) or a derivative of picar ‘to prick’.
PietrafesaItalian The derivation of the name Pietrafesa comes from the cracked aspect of the mountain on which it rose. In Italian "Pietra" mean Rock and "-fesa" comes from the Italian word fessura meaning cracked.... [more]
PininfarinaItalian A combination of "pinin", Piedmontese for youngest/smallest brother, and Farina, the Italian variant of Miller. This is the name of the Italian coachbuilder, founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina, later Battista Pininfarina.
PinoSpanish, Galician, Italian Spanish and Galician habitational name from any of the places in Galicia (Spain) named Pino from pino "pine" or a topographic name for someone who lived by a remarkable pine tree. Italian habitational name from Pino d'Asti in Asti province Pino Torinese in Torino or Pino Solitario in Taranto all named with pino "pine’... [more]
PiovascoItalian, Literature Means "shower, brief fall of rain" in Italian, from Italian piovere or piova, both meaning "rain" with an added suffix. Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò is the protagonist in the Italian novel The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino, who inherited this surname from his father, Arminio Piovasco.
PisaItalian Habitational name from the city of Pisa in Tuscany. The city was probably founded by Greek colonists, but before coming under Roman control it was in the hands of the Etruscans, who probably gave it its name... [more]
PiscopoItalian From a reduced form of episcopo "bishop" (Greek episkopos "bishop", literally "overseer"), hence a metonymic occupational name for someone in the service of a bishop, or perhaps a nickname for a pompous person.
PisoniItalian patronymic "from Pisone", from a derivative of Piso, from Latin pisum "pea"
PlatiniItalian Occupational name for a person who coats objects with platinum, derived from Italian platinare literally meaning "to platinize, to coat with platinum". A notable bearer is the former French soccer star Michel Platini (1955-).
PoItalian Derived from Po the longest river in Italy (651,8 km). It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps across the regions: Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto... [more]
PolidoriItalian Means "son of Polidoro". Famous bearers include John William Polidori (1795-1821), a physician to Lord Byron and author of 'The Vampyre' (1819), and his sister Frances Polidori (1800-1886), the mother of painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet Christina Rossetti, critic William Michael Rossetti, and author Maria Francesca Rossetti.
PompiliiItalian, Medieval Latin The surname Pompilii is of Italian origin and is likely derived from the Latin name Pompilius, which is historically linked to NumaPompilius, the legendary second king of Rome known for his wisdom and religious reforms... [more]
PorcelliItalian From Italian porcello, meaning "piglet". Used to denote someone who worked as a swineherd, or perhaps a nickname for someone who resembled a piglet in some way.
PortanovaItalian, Portuguese, Galician Habitational name from a place or locality called Portanova "new gate" from the elements neos "new" and porta "door".
PorteraItalian Occupational name for a female servant, from Spanish portera.
PríncipeItalian, Spanish From principe "prince, heir" (Latin princeps, genitive principis, from primus "first" and capere "to take"), applied probably as a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces or for someone in the service of a prince.
PrioreItalian from Italian priore "prior" either a nickname or occupational name which probably most often originated as a metonymic occupational name for a servant of a prior or some important lay dignitary... [more]
ProcidaItalian Habitational name from Procida, one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy.
ProcopioItalian Italian (Calabria) and Greek (Prokopios): from the personal name Procopio, Greek Prokopios, from pro ‘before’, ‘in front’ + kopē ‘cut’, actually an omen name meaning ‘success’, ‘prosperity’ but as a Church name taken to mean ‘pioneer’ as it was the name of the first victim of Diocletian's persecutions in Palestine in AD 303... [more]
ProiaItalian From the name of a place in Italy. The meaning is uncertain, but it might be derived from Greek πρωία (proía) "morning".
ProiettiItalian From Latin proiecto "abandoned, thrown away", given to foundlings and children abandoned at orphanages. The name may have been taken from la ruota dei proietti, or "foundling wheel", that some orphanages and religious institutes in Italy installed for infants to be anonymously abandoned in.
PugnoItalian The Italian family name Pugno is considered by scholars to be of nickname origin. While the majority of surnames that are derived from a sobriquet or nickname reveal to us some aspect of the physical appearance of the initial bearer of the name or may allude to a characteristic of this person, other nickname family names make reference to a particular piece of clothing or favorite article or indeed a favorite color of the bearer of the name... [more]
PuleoSicilian origin- common name found in Palermo in Scicily
PulsipherItalian (Anglicized) from the nickname meaning "handsome man" of a member of the Italian Pulci family who settled in England around the time of the Norman conquest
PulsoniItalian Probably from Latin pulso "to beat, to strike".
QuasimodoItalian (Rare) From the name of the Sunday that follows Easter, called Quasimodo Sunday, which gets its name from the opening words of the Latin chant quasi modo meaning "like the way" (see Quasimodo as a first name), possibly denoted somebody who was born or baptized in the first Sunday after Easter... [more]
QuintoAragonese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian Habitational surname for a person from a place called Quinto, for example in Zaragoza province. However, the high concentration of the surname in Alacant province suggests that, in some cases at least, it may derive from the personal name Quinto (from Latin Quintus denoting the fifth-born child or Catalan quinto "young soldier").... [more]
RacioppiItalian, Sicilian Derived from Sicilian racioppu meaning "cluster of grapes", hence presumably a metonymic occupational name for someone who sold or produced grapes.
RagostaItalian from aragosta "lobster" used for a shell-fisherman or otherwise as a nickname for someone thought to resemble a lobster in some way.
RagusaItalian Habitational name from Ragusa in Sicily, or from the ancient city of Dubrovnik on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia (Italian name Ragusa).
RaguseaItalian (Americanized) Possibly an Americanized form of Ragusa. Adam Ragusea (1982-) is an American internet personality who makes videos about food recipes, food science, and culinary culture.
RaiaItalian, Sicilian Either a topographic name from Sicilian raia ‘smilax’ (a climbing shrub), or else derived from Sicilian raja meaning ‘ray’, or ‘skate’ (the fish), presumably a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish or a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or fish seller.
RandazzoItalian Habitational name from a place in Catania called Randazzo. Possibly from a derivative of the personal name Rando.
RapinoItalian From the name of two municipalities in Abruzzo, Italy. It could also be a nickname for a barber, derived from Italian rapare meaning "to crop, to shave, to scalp".
RappaItalian, Sicilian from Sicilian rappa meaning ‘bunch, cluster’ or Italian rappa meaning ‘lock, quiff’, which was presumably applied as a nickname with reference to someone’s hair.
RassiItalian Comes from the Italian rosso, meaning "red".
RealeItalian From reale "royal", either an occupational name for someone in the service of a king or a nickname for someone who behaved in a regal manner.
RealiItalian Variant of the surname Reale, which stems from reale "royal", either a name for someone in the service of a royal or a nickname for someone who behaved in a regal, aristocratic manner.
RebuffoItalian Possibly from the medieval given names Rebuffo or Robufus. Alternately, may derive from a nickname based on rabuffo "rebuke, scold".
RecchiaItalian Nickname from a reduced form of orecchia "ear".
RecchioItalian Probably a shortened form of orecchio "ear".
RinomatoItalian Derived from Italian rinomato meaning "renowned", "famous", and "well-known". A known bearer is the Canadian television host Sandra Rinomato.
RispoliItalian A patronymic from a derivative of the given name Rispo, which is probably of Germanic origin. Alternatively, it could be a variant of Ruspoli, which is of unknown origin.
RitaccoItalian Probably a derivative of Rito, a masculinized form of the female personal name Rita.
RivabellaItalian Derived from the Italian word riva meaning "bank (shore, riverbank, lakebank)" (from Latin ripa) and bella meaning "beautiful"... [more]
RoascioItalian (Rare) Derived from Roascio, the name of a municipality in the province of Cuneo in the Piedmont region of Italy. The meaning of the municipality's name is uncertain, but since it is located in Piedmont and known as Roass in the Piedmontese language, the etymological origin of the name is most likely Piedmontese... [more]
RoasioItalian This surname originates from the Piedmont region of Italy. It is most likely derived from Roasio, which is the name of a municipality in that same region. The meaning of the municipality's name is uncertain, but since it is located in Piedmont and known as Roaso in the Piedmontese language, the etymological origin of the name is most likely Piedmontese... [more]
RondelliItalian, English, French From the medieval name "Rondello" derived from French "rondel" meaning "go around, round" or "rondel", a French old nickname for a round, plump man.
RoppoloItalian Perhaps a derivative of Roppo, a given name of Germanic origin.
RosanoItalian rosa meaning pink. Could also be indicative of a location known for or possessing roses.