GuàrdiaCatalan, Spanish, Italian Catalan, Spanish, and Italian from Catalan guàrdia, Spanish and Italian guardia ‘guard’, ‘watch’, a topographic name for someone who lived by a watch place, an occupational name for a member of the town guard, or a habitational name from any of the numerous places named (La) Guardia.
GuardiaItalian, Spanish From Spanish and Italian guardia "guard watch" a topographic name for someone who lived by a watch place by a watchtower or a habitational name from any of numerous places called La Guardia named with the same word; or a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept watch or for a member of the town guard... [more]
GuarracinoItalian Nothing is known of this family name other then they grew up in Manhattan, New York, other states and cities too but most can from boats and had to be quertied at Ellis Island, New York
GuastiItalian Meaning uncertain, may denote someone from the town of Guasto. Alternately, it may be an occupational name from gastaldo "chamberlain", from Latin gastaldus "manager, bailiff, steward", or be a nickname from guasto "broken, crippled".
GucciItalian Patronymic or plural form of the given name Guccio, a late medieval Italian diminutive of various names ending in go, such as Arrigo (via Arriguccio) or Ugo (via Uguccio)... [more]
GucciardoItalian From the personal name Gucciardo, a revival of French Guichard, of Germanic origin, probably composed of the elements wig 'battle' or wisa 'experience' + hard 'strong', 'brave', 'hardy'.
IavaroneItalian Possibly from a shortened form of the personal name Ianni + varone, a variant of barone ‘baron’; literally ‘baron John’.
IbbaItalian Meaning uncertain, possibly from Sardinian v-ibba "settlement" (compare Deidda), or from Latin ibi "that place, there".
IencaItalian (Rare) Allegedly derived from Italian giovenca "heifer". A heifer is a young cow that has not yet had a calf. Mount Jenca and Jenca Valley are located near Gran Sasso d'Italia in the Abruzzo region in Italy.
ImbimboNeapolitan From Italian bimbo meaning "a child, a male baby" (which is a variant of bambino "child") combined with in-, a prefix indicating "belonging to the family of".
IngogliaItalian Means "belonging to the family of Goglia" in Italian, derived from the prefix in- meaning "belonging to the family of" combined with the name Goglia... [more]
InquietiItalian (Rare) would like to know if any one out there has heard of this name and what part of italy it comes from gt grand father corneluse inquiete/i came to england from parma italy in 1872/4 age 37/8 married in 1875... [more]
InsalacoItalian A surname in Sicily. Believed to come from the word Salaco an occupational name for a tanner in Arabic.
InvernizziItalian Probably denoted someone from Inverno e Monteleone, a municipality in Lombardy. Inverno itself is Italian for "winter".
InzaghiItalian Probably from the town of Inzago, near Milan. This surname is most famously borne by brothers Filippo (1973–) and Simone Inzaghi (1976–).
IppolitoItalian Italian: from the personal name Ippolito (classical Greek Hippolytos, composed of the elements hippos ‘horse’ + lyein ‘loose’, ‘release’). This was the name of various minor early Christian saints... [more]
JacarusoItalian An Italian surname from a compound of Ia- (from the personal name Ianni) and the southern Italian word caruso, which means ‘lad’ or ‘boy’.
LaghiItalian Possibly originated to denote someone from the Italian town of Laghi.
LagoItalian, Spanish, Portuguese Topographic name for someone living by a lake from lago "lake" (from Latin lacus) or a habitational name from any of the many places called with this word.
LaiItalian Possibly denoting someone from Alà dei Sardi, or derived from the given name Nicola 1. Alternately, it may derive from lai, a type of lyrical poem.
LaicoItalian Means that is not part of the Catholic Church.
LamalfaSicilian Variant of Malfa, most probably a habitational name for someone from Malfa on the island of Salina (Messina), although the name has also been linked with Amalfi in Salerno and Melfi in Potenza.
LamborghiniItalian Probably from Germanic landa "land" and burg "fortress, castle".
LamendolaItalian, Sicilian nickname or more often a habitational name from places named with the dialect term amendola, mendola, mendula "almond" (also "almond tree").
LanaItalian, Spanish Means "wool" in Spanish and Italian. Occupational name for a wool merchant.
LanciaItalian From Latin lancea, meaning "spear", given to those who made, sold or used spears. A famous bearer of this surname is Vincenzo Lancia (1881-1937), who established the Lancia car brand in 1906.
La RosaItalian Derived from Italian rosa meaning "rose", used as a name for someone who lived by a rose bush.
LarussoItalian Derived from the Italian word "Rosso," which comes from the Latin words "Rubius and Rossius," which mean "red." As a surname, larusso was originally a nickname for a person with red hair or a reddish complexion.
LasagnaItalian From Italian (lasagna) denoting a popular Italian dish made of stacked layers of thin flat pasta alternating with fillings such as ragù and other vegetables, cheese, seasonings and spices.
LatinoItalian From the medieval personal name Latino, originally an ethnic name for someone of Latin as opposed to Germanic, Byzantine or Slavic descent.
LattanzioItalian My great-great grandmother's name was Patrizia Maria Lattanzio. After she passed and my Great-grandmother sent my grandmother to America, the officials mis-spelled her name on her documents and the last name was shortened to Lattanzi... [more]
LeddaItalian, Sardinian Probably from the former Medieval town of Lella, in northern Sardinia. The transformation of -ll- into -dd- is common in Sardinian.
LeggioItalian From Sicilian leggiu "light, not heavy; superficial", a nickname for someone considered unreliable or irresponsible. Variant of Leggièri.
LegoreItalian Possibly Italian, a nickname for a fleet-footed or timid person, from a northern variant of lepre "hare". However, only the plural form Legori is attested in Italian records.
LeonardoItalian, Spanish, German Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese from the Germanic personal name Leonhard, formed from the elements leo ‘lion’ + hard, ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’; this was an early medieval saint’s name (see Leonard).
LeopardiItalian From the medieval given name Leopardus. A famous bearer of this surname is Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837), one of the most influential Italian poets.
LoglisciItalian My grandfather's family name who were from Gravina di Puglia
Lo GuastaItalian Variant of Guasti, literally "the broken". Probably used as a nickname for someone with a twisted or deformed limb, used in at least one case for a foundling.
LoiaItalian Most likely a variant of Aloia. May alternately be related to Italian loggia "atrium, open-roofed gallery", Greek λεώς (leos) "the people", or Tuscan loia "dirt, filth on clothes or skin", perhaps a nickname for someone with a profession that often made them dirty, such as mining.
Lo MàglioItalian Literally means "the hammer." However, "the" would normally be represented as "il" in Italian, in this case.
Lo RiccoItalian Originally Spanish but of Italian origin for at least 7 generations. My branch of the family are residing in Australia but many remain in Italy and quite a few in the USA
LovatoSpanish (Latin American), Italian Northern Italian from the Late Latin personal name Lupatus, derivative of Latin lupus "wolf". This is one of several medieval personal names which became popular under the influence of Germanic compound personal names formed with wolf-.
LoveraItalian, Spanish Either a topographic name from lovera "wolf pack" or "wolves’ lair" or a habitational name from a place called Lovera. Spanish variant of Lobera.
LuccaItalian A habitational name from Lucca Sicula in Agrigento province, Sicily, which was called simply Lucca until 1863. It was probably originally named with a Celtic element meaning ‘marshy.’
LuccheseItalian Denoted someone from Lucca, a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy.
MaattaItalian 1 Southern Italian: from a feminine form of Matto .... [more]
MacalusoItalian Possibly from Arabic مخلوص (maklus) "freed, liberated", indicating a freedman or slave who had been liberated, which may be related to Sicilian macaluscio, "cleaned and prepared cotton".
MaccaroneItalian from maccaroni "macaroni" (or in northern Italy "gnocco") perhaps applied as a metonymic occupational name for a maker of pasta or in the North as a nickname for a silly or foolish person.
MacchiaItalian Topographic name from Italian macchia "thicket", "scrub" (from Latin macula) and Habitational name from any of various places named Macchia, as for example Macchia in Trapani province, Sicily.
MacchioneItalian Originally from the south of italy (Calabria or Sicily), from an augmentative of Macchia (stain), in some cases, a habitational name from various places so named in Campania and Puglia.
MachiSicilian Unexplained. It may be from the Albanian personal name Maqo. Derivation from a Greek name ending in -akis, which has been suggested, is implausible.
MacriItalian Italian variant of Magro. It could also be a southern Italian nickname for a person who had long limbs or who was tall, derived from Greek μακρύς (makrýs) literally meaning "long, tall" (see Makris)... [more]
MaddaloniItalian It should came from the toponym Maddaloni (Campany, South Italy) which name originates from the Arabic term "magdhal" meaning fortress, stronghold. The last name Maddaloni is typical of the area that includes the provinces of Naples, Caserta and Benevento.
MadedduItalian Possibly a variant of Madau "sheepfold". Alternately, may derive from a Sardinian variant of Amato "beloved", or from the Latin cognomen Metellus "hired servant".
MadoniaItalian Habitational name from any of numerous places named Madonia, or a regional name for someone from Madonie in Sicily.
MadonnaItalian From the person name Madonna, from donna meaning "lady", bestowed in honor of the Virgin Mary.
MaffessantiItalian Meaning is overall unknown, but might come from Saint of Matthew. In Italian the name “Maffeo” is an Italian spelling of Matthew and “Santi” means saints, so combined it would be Maffessanti... [more]
MaffioneItalian Possibly a derivative of the given name Maffeo. This surname is from the Puglia region of Barletta, southern Italy.
MagaldiItalian, South American Patronymic or plural form of the Old German personal name Magoald (from the elements megin, magan "strength, might, power" and wald "power"), or else a nickname from magaldo meaning "evil, wicked", which was derived from the personal name... [more]
MaggioItalian From a nickname or personal name from the month of May, maggio, from Latin Maius (mensis), from Maia, a rather obscure goddess of fertility, whose name is derived from the same root as maius "larger" and maiestas "greatness"... [more]
MaggioriItalian Recorded in many spelling forms including the 'base' form of Maggi, and the diminutives and double diminutives Maggiore, Maggiori, Di Maggio, Maggorini, and many others, this is an Italian surname of Roman (Latin) origins... [more]
MagnesiItalian Derived from the word "magnesia," which is an ancient term for a region in present-day Greece that was known for its deposits of magnesium and other minerals. The surname may have been given to someone who originated from this region or was associated with it.
MalatestaItalian Means "bad head" in Italian, a nickname for a stubborn or perhaps malicious person. It could have also indicated the bearer had a misshapen head. ... [more]