What’s in a Name? Posted by Geoff on Sep 11, 2014 in Culture
I’ve always been fascinated by etymology, and in particular the origin of names. As a child, growing up in Suffolk, England, the surnames that I heard most often included Smith, Cooper, Baker, Farmer, Cook, and Butcher, all of which can be traced back to the trades that give origin to the name. Click on any of the names above to discover their origins.
My name, Chamberlain, was fairly unusual in Suffolk and, perhaps because it was linked to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (a second cousin of my father), was considered somewhat ‘posh’. Maybe it’s because I had a surname that stood out from the crowd that I felt compelled to discover its origins.
Weird and Wonderful Italian Surnames
All of us who develop a passion for Italy and the Italian language tend to be somewhat mesmerised by Italian names. After all, how can humble Jane Smith compete with exotic Giovanna Fabbro, or Bob Miller with Roberto Farina! In actual fact, Fabbro is Italian for blacksmith, and Farina (literally: flour) indicates that the holder of this surname comes from a family of millers.
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| Monumento to Ilaria del Carretto by Jacopo della Quercia (CC) |
However, Italian names deriving from trades seem to be far less common than their English counterparts. Students of Italian usually reach a stage where they want to translate everything they encounter, and for me that included cognomi (surnames). When I first began to do this I got as big surprise. Names that I had considered to be poetic and romantic turned out to be …. well, bizarre or (not wishing to offend anyone) funny. So, here is a small collection of some of my favourites with their literal English translations:
Battilocchi = Blink the Eyes
Biscioni = Big grass Snakes
Calcaterra = Press down the Ground
Cantalamessa = Sing the Mass
Carnesecca = Dry Meat
Castracani = Dog Castrator
Carofiglio = Dear Son
Cozzalupi = Batting Wolves
Del Carretto = Of the Cart
Del Chiappa = Of the Buttock
Del Gatto = Of the Cat
Della Quercia = Of the Oak
Gambarara = Rare Leg
Lumachelli = Little Slugs
Magnavacca = Big Cow
Malaspina = Bad Thorn
Malatesta = Bad Head
Occhipinti = Painted Eyes
Parlapiano = Speak Slowly
Passalacqua = Pass the Water
Pomodoro = Tomato
Ranocchia = Little Frog
Zerbini = Doormats
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| Paolo Malatesta e Francesca da Rimini by William Dyce 1845 (Public Domain) |
Historical notes by Serena:
Castruccio Castracani, 1281 – 1328, was a famous warlord of Lucca
Ilaria del Carretto, 1379 – 1405, was married to Paolo Guinigi, lord of Lucca
Jacopo della Quercia, 1374 – 1438, sculpted the beautiful funerary monument for Ilaria del Carretto that can be found in il duomo di Lucca
Malaspina was a powerful feudal family in Tuscany and Liguria during the Middle Ages. It was divided into two main branches: Spino Secco = Dry Thorn, and Spino Fiorito = Flowering Thorn
Paolo Malatesta was the brother in law and lover of Francesca da Rimini. Their tragic love was immortalized by Dante Alighieri in the Fifth Canto of his Inferno
Finally
The Italian equivalent of my surname, Chamberlain, is Camerlengo. Do any of you have a surname that you’d like to share with us, whether it be of Italian origin or otherwise? Or perhaps you’ve encountered a particularly unusual Italian surname. Please leave a comment.
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Comments:
Lorna Russell:
My mother’s maiden name is Ciotola-which i believe is a bowl. She comes from a little village in the provence of Salerno.
My maiden name is Cavasassi- which could mean remove stones I think?
My dad came from Chiaravalle a town close to Ancona.
Priscilla:
Vittorio Cippoli and his wife Lorenza Santo own Il Rigo, a wonderful agriturismo in Tuscany. The onions and the saint?
Constance M. Collins:
My mother’s maiden name was Bottone which means button.
Tony Zamberlan:
The name Zamberlan originates from Auronzo in northern Italy. It has been traced back many generations and is one of the only names from the region that never changed. I have always been curious what it means.
Antonio M:
Risiedo a New York City dove incontro spesso gli americani con cognomi coloratissimi.
Alcuni dei miei preferiti:
• Cinquemani (chi ha forse talento per fare molte cose contemporaneamente)
• Segreto (chi non può mai mantenere un segreto)
• Spadafina (chi non è un fabbricante delle spade di precisione, ma ha la lingua come una spada)
• Civile (chi è ironicamente un vicino a casa incivile)
• Gambetti (chi, secondo me, non mette mai intenzionalmente un piede tra le gambe di una persona che cammina)
• Gentile (chi è veramente un uomo ben educato)
• Benedetto (chi, a novantatré anni di età, è sicuramente benedetta – con la buona genetica)
Sofia:
My surname Golosova is not of Italian or British origin.
“Golos” in Russian means “voice” but for Italian or Spanish guys this surname seems funny because “goloso” means greedy, gluttonous…..
Mamma:
My maiden name is Stivey; believed to be of Huguenot Origins. If you have some spare time, Geoff, you might like to trace it? XXX
Geoff:
@Mamma Thanks mother. Do you remember what Linz found out about the name Stivey? It would be really interesting to add that info to these comments (obviously an abbreviated version).
Love from Geoff X
Phil:
Geoff,
Here is an interesting issue for an Italian name. In the USA, one of our major league baseball players is named Jarrod Saltalamacchia. His name, I believe, means “Jump the hedge.” However, he holds the record for the longest last name in Major League Baseball history. The put the players’ names on the back of their jerseys and his wraps around his number in an inverted “U” shape! You can Google him on the English language Google site and see some pictures.
Phil
Norma:
I have a beautiful Italian female friend from le Marche whose very appropriate surname is Bellagamba. Why singular and not plural has always puzzled me.
Phil:
Geoff,
I have some more! One college fraternity brother was named Joe Buonasorte (Joe Good Fortune).
Another fraternity brother was Frank Scatteregia (Frank Twitching Royals?)
One more fraternity brother (no, they all weren’t Italian) was Richard DiCristofaro (Of the lighthouse of the hopeless wretches?)
The final one (I think he was born in Italy) was Renzo Venturo (Renzo Upcoming?).
I did my best with translating the names. I’m not sure of most.
Phil
Delfina Acuto Herbert:
Born in Casale Monferrato, Piemonte my father’s name was Acuto. Some of the meanings are sharp, keen, acute. In researching the name origin, I located information in several resources. Giovanni Acuto is the Italianized name of the English soldier of fortune, Sir John Hawkwood, who was born in Sible Hedingham, Essex, England in 1320 and he died in Florence Italy in 1394. A fresco by Uccello of him on horseback is located in the Duomo of Florence. He was a most interesting man!
Mamma:
I don’t think she actually found the meaning of Stivey: only where the family arrived in Plymouth and built a house. The name plaque above the door said built by James Stivey. Will ask her when we next speak. X
Geoff:
@Mamma Well Mother, I knew there was a reason that I always felt attracted to Italy! Read about the origins of the name Stivey here: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/stivey
Love, Geoff X
Guest:
Yes, I would like to share a surname. My maiden name is Bortolotto. It is Venetian in origin. My father was born in Salvatronda (near Castelfranco of Giorgione fame) and I have done some research on the origins. I believe it ultimately derives from the Hebrew, Bartolomeo. Thank you for the time and effort put into your blog. I enjoy it immensely!
Guest2:
My husband’s name is Ferioli which we believe is people of iron. My last name was Ghelfi, changed from the ancient name of Guelfus or Guelfo. We know that it was changed because of a feud between the Ghibellinos and Guelfs the Pope declared they could no longer use the name, but I have no idea what Ghelfi means in Italian. If you should know, I would be interested in its meaning. Thanks, love your blog.
Guest3:
My husband’s family are Italian and his father comes from the region of Belluno. His surname is Vieceli. Apparently this is a very unusual name in Italy (unless you are in the actual town where he was born, Feltre in Sovramonte, or the small town close by where the second branch of the family migrated after some kind of split within the family many many years ago). In these small towns there are many Vieceli’s and they are so proud of their name that they hold an “incontro” every 2 years where Vieceli’s from all over the world get together. Apparently a lot of them went to Brazil and the USA, presumably after the 1st and 2nd world wars looking for work and a fresh start. In some cases the name has been tweaked a little over the years to suit the location.
Guest4:
Yes i would love to know the real origin of mio cognome Leone.
Dating back in the Roman era.
Buona giornata
Guest5:
Check on a Calabraise surname: Alvino
Thanks!
Guest6:
My surname is Di Pasqua in Italian. Like you say students like to know the meaning of certain Italian surnames and are sometimes surprised and find them very funny.
They also like to translate very common Dutch names like Jan into Gianni, Johan/Jos into Giovanni etc. Ofcourse the Italian equivalent always sounds more poetic and interesting.
I’ll use your little list of surnames in my beginnerscourse to practice the pronunciation.
Giacopazzi:
Can anyone shed any light on this name? e.g. geographical origins
Jeff:
Bevilacqua – party poopers 😉
Mike Nicolucci:
Geoff&Serena,
I lived in the Treviso province of the Veneto for many years and when visiting last year, an Italian friend told me the reason many northern Italian names are shortened is because those who revolted against the Venetian rulers some time ago were forced to drop the ends of their names as punishment instead of death. This identified them and their descendants as traitors.
Urban legend fueled by wine or true? My Friend’s family names are Piccin and Pavan.
Saluti!!!
Geoff:
@Mike Nicolucci Salve Mike, that’s really interesting, we hadn’t heard about the reason for the well known truncated names in the Veneto region.
Grazie per il tuo contributo, saluti da Geoff e Serena
Tony Zamberlan:
My family name is Zamberlan and we originated from Auronzo in northern Italy. Any idea what it may mean? It has been traced back many generations and has not changed.
Geoff:
@Tony Zamberlan I wonder if it’s related to my surname, Chamberlain. It certainly sounds very similar. Let me know if you ever discover, okay?
Saluti da Geoff 🙂
Julie:
family name is Di Nuzzo . What is the meaning
Geoff:
@Julie Salve Julia, mi dispiace ma non ho la più pallida idea. Ho dato un’occhiata veloce sull’internet ma non riesco a trovare nulla.
Saluti da Geoff
Frances:
I know the surname Fumagalli is quite common in Italy and wondered if you can tell me what it means please?
Geoff:
@Frances Salve Frances, here’s what a quick search turned up:
Secondo alcune fonti storiche, Fumagalli è un cognome formato essenzialmente dall’insieme di due parole di antichissima origine lombarda “fuma” e “gal”. Letteralmente significa “ladro di polli” o “colui che ruba i polli”.
Translation:
According to some historic sources, Fumagalli is a surname composed of two words which have their ancient origins in Lombardy: ‘fuma’ and ‘gal’.
It’s literal meaning is “chicken thief”or “he who steals chickens”.
Here’s the source that I got the info from: http://www.paginebianche.it/cognome/fumagalli.htm
Saluti da geoff
DeGrazia:
One interesting thing I discovered is that some of common surnames actually were given for orphans in the convents. I always wondered if my surname DeGrazia.. Or DiGrazia was so common because of that.. The town history if Calvello in Basilicata goes way back with that name so in my case if there was an orphan who started the line it would have been pre1600 at least.
Geoff:
@DeGrazia Molto interessante, grazie.
Fran:
My surname means ‘of the dawn’. My Dad told me that his ancestors were given the name because they lived on the side of a hill and their house was the first place in the village that sunlight touched at dawn. It’s a lovely story but I’m not sure if it’s true. I like to think it is.
Geoff:
@Fran That’s a beautiful surname Fran, and a lovely story. It reminds me of the wild clematis that grows profusely here called vitalba, which I always thought meant ‘dawn vine’. However, alba is actually Latin for white, hence ‘white vine’ …. boring! I far prefer my original interpretation, ‘dawn vine’ is so much more evocative, don’t you think?
A presto, Geoff