Siciliani - the origin of names in your family?

[alfieb]

My surname is said to be of Arabic origin. I also have surnames in my family that are of likely mainland Italian origin as well as some of Greek origin. No Spanish, Jewish or Germanic surnames that I know of, although Germanic given names are commonplace, and are generally speaking the same as the ones introduced by the Normans in the 11-12th centuries.

[Sikeliot]

I don't want to give away my own last name for privacy reasons but others in my family:

Costanzo (derives from Constantine) -- Latin
Lipari (from the island Lipari, derived from Greek "Lypàra") -- Greek
Messina (from Messina province, after Messene) -- Greek
Paxhia -- Arbereshe

[Vesuvian Sky]

My ancestor from Cefalù had a name derived from Nicolleta. Some consider this Greek influence.

[alfieb]

Yeah, that's why I didn't ask for actual surnames. Didn't want to make anything too personal.

[Sikeliot]

I said all of them except my own.

[Sikeliot]

Something interesting that I didn't know where to post..

We have relatives in our family who married into the family with the surname "Annino". I never thought about it at all until I found out a girl I went to high school with, her mother is Greek from Lemnos and her family surname is "Anninos".

[alfieb]

While I've never even met someone with that surname. I'd imagine it's exclusively Eastern.

[Sikeliot]

While I've never even met someone with that surname. I'd imagine it's exclusively Eastern.

It is from Catania and Syracuse as one would expect. Another strictly eastern Sicilian surname that is almost directly from Greek is "Platania".

Something I do wonder though is why a lot of the ones ending in -aci are also common in Palermo when that is a Greek root like -akis.

[alfieb]

We didn't have surnames in ancient times. I've got numerous Greek-origin surnames in my own family. I don't know if my ancestors were actually Greek or just Hellenized during the Greco-Roman-Byzantine era.

[Ulla]

My surname is said to be of Arabic origin. I also have surnames in my family that are of likely mainland Italian origin as well as some of Greek origin. No Spanish, Jewish or Germanic surnames that I know of, although Germanic given names are commonplace, and are generally speaking the same as the ones introduced by the Normans in the 11-12th centuries.

Surnames are a linguistic matter. To have a surname of Arabic origin doesn't mean to be of Arabic origin. It's not automatic.

For example, Normans had surnames of Latin origins (of toponomastic origin, derived from place names in France of Latin origins) but Normans were not of Latin origins.

[Laebat]

Origin of the surname does not indicate genetics.

[Ulla]

Origin of the surname does not indicate genetics.

True.

Another example: there are many Albanian surnames of Turkish origins, but They are still Albanians, not Turks. Or most of Spaniards surnames are of Latin origins. Are all the Spaniards genetically Latins?

We must not confuse genetics with cultural assimilation. And many surnames are the result of cultural assimilation.

[alejandro]

I don't want to give away my own last name for privacy reasons but others in my family:

Costanzo (derives from Constantine) -- Latin
Lipari (from the island Lipari, derived from Greek "Lypàra") -- Greek
Messina (from Messina province, after Messene) -- Greek
Paxhia -- Arbereshe

Last names that ends with one like stallone,bellerone what are they derived from ??

[Elsa]

Last names that ends with one like stallone,bellerone what are they derived from ??

Stallone means "stallion" (in Italian). I don't have any information about Bellerone however.

[alejandro]

Stallone means "stallion" (in Italian). I don't have any information about Bellerone however.

Ok, licari is My Grand mothers lastname what is that derived from ??

[Ulla]

Last names that ends with one like stallone,bellerone what are they derived from ??

Stallone>Stallion; Bellerone I don't know.

Name that ends with -one... it's generally Italian augmentative suffix -one (feminine -ona). Example: bello (beautiful) > bellone (bell-one). Many surnames derive from nicknames formed with suffixes.

Accrescitivo
In grammatica, derivazione morfologica di un nome (sostantivo o aggettivo), per indicarne un accrescimento quantitativo o qualitativo. In italiano si forma perlopiù con il suffisso -óne (f. -óna).

http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/accrescitivo/

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

My surname is said to be of Arabic origin. I also have surnames in my family that are of likely mainland Italian origin as well as some of Greek origin. No Spanish, Jewish or Germanic surnames that I know of, although Germanic given names are commonplace, and are generally speaking the same as the ones introduced by the Normans in the 11-12th centuries.

Don't you have a Basque surname in your family tree?

[Sikeliot]

Another one from my family, one of my great great grandmothers' surnames from Palermo, is "Taravella". Any idea what its linguistic root might be?

[Ulla]

Ok, licari is My Grand mothers lastname what is that derived from ??

Licari is exclusively Sicilian. Could be composed of Li (typical Sicilian prefix) and Cari, according to Sicilian linguist Bent Parodi. But he doesn't say anything else.

Italy is perhaps the European country with the highest number of names, not all are easy to decipher.

[alfieb]

Don't you have a Basque surname in your family tree?

Yes and no. It's a surname that may be of Basque origin from a small town in Northern Italy where Basques supposedly settled hundreds of years ago.

I don't have any 23andMe "relatives" in Basque Country, but I do have one in Cantabria, and I do get 1% "Iberian" on 23andMe.

[quaquaraqua]

Another one from my family, one of my great great grandmothers' surnames from Palermo, is "Taravella". Any idea what its linguistic root might be?Taravella sembrerebbe del palermitano, Taravelli, assolutamente rarissimo, parrebbe del cuneese, Taravello parrebbe avere un ceppo palermitano ed uno cuneese, dovrebbe derivare dall'etnico tarabulus (di Tripoli), traccia di questa cognominizzazione si ha in uno scritto del 1245, dove si legge: "...fratrem eius, Arnaudum Stephani de Taravello et uxorem eius,...".
integrazioni fornite da Giovanni Vezzelli
Taravella è cognome siciliano. Cfr. l'italiano dialettale 'taravèlla' = 'membro o altro oggetto storto o irregolare', calabrese settentrionale 'taravedda', antico provenzale 'taravela' = 'succhiello, trapano' (latino 'terebella', diminutivo di 'terebra', da cui l'italiano 'trivella'), piemontese 'taravela' = loquacità, persona loquace, calabrese 'taravieddu' = cicaleccio. G. Caracausi, II, 1601.

[Panormus]

My surname derives from the Latin word "bonus"

[Sikeliot]

dont know bout "tara" but vella is just vëlla which means brother (in albanian ofc)

The Arbereshe is not mixed into my Palermitan side.

[Sikeliot]

do you have any arbereshe ancestry at all?

A very minor amount.

[alfieb]

Another one from my family, one of my great great grandmothers' surnames from Palermo, is "Taravella". Any idea what its linguistic root might be?

I have a 4x-great grandmother with that surname. Palermo side.

[Sikeliot]

i find this interesting because to me you could pass more in albanian lands than greek

I'm a mixture of a lot of things, not just Sicilian. Sicilian is only 3/8 of my ethnicity. But I disagree, I don't think I look Albanian.

[Dun93]

Mine is Tataglia , it is thought to be of mafia origin

[alfieb]

I doubt Taravella has Albanian origin as it is not found in any of the Albanian towns in Palermo.

[Smitty]

The only two I know of in my family are Aliotta and Longo. Other than some dubious Internet explanations, I don't know where/what they're derived from.

[Sikeliot]

The only two I know of in my family are Aliotta and Longo. Other than some dubious Internet explanations, I don't know where/what they're derived from.


Longo is common throughout Sicily, I have seen it before.

[Smitty]

Longo is common throughout Sicily, I have seen it before.

According to Surname Database, it's Latin in origin. If that's true, I would imagine it's pretty common throughout Italy in general.

[Seth MacFarlane]

I don't want to give away my own last name for privacy reasons but others in my family:

Costanzo (derives from Constantine) -- Latin
Lipari (from the island Lipari, derived from Greek "Lypàra") -- Greek
Messina (from Messina province, after Messene) -- Greek
Paxhia -- Arbereshe

moms mother was dimieri do you have any idea what's the origin and can it point to the region my Sicilian roots are from ?

[Tacitus]

moms mother was dimieri do you have any idea what's the origin and can it point to the region my Sicilian roots are from ?

Dimieri isn't a Sicilian name.

http://www.gens.info/lib/cog/maps/cognomi/D/DIMIERI.gif

[Seth MacFarlane]

Dimieri isn't a Sicilian name.

http://www.gens.info/lib/cog/maps/cognomi/D/DIMIERI.gif

What name is it then my friend ? ( no sarcasm just really want to know )

[Tacitus]

What name is it then my friend ? ( no sarcasm just really want to know )

Erm, those two dots are in Campania. So there's your answer.

[Seth MacFarlane]

Erm, those two dots are in Campania. So there's your answer.

Thanks bro !! My relative was supposedly Sicilian although he could of been mixed. He looks similar to mobster Sam the plumber decalvacante

[Dweller23]

My name is of sicilian origin...the motherland Sicilia.

[blogen]

Surnames are a linguistic matter. To have a surname of Arabic origin doesn't mean to be of Arabic origin. It's not automatic.

For example, Normans had surnames of Latin origins (of toponomastic origin, derived from place names in France of Latin origins) but Normans were not of Latin origins.

The Normans of Normandy? The average "Norman" were French (Latin) origin, because they were French noblemans and fortune hunters. Only a minority between the Normans were real Northmen.

source: R.H.C. Davis: The Normans and Their Myth - 1976

[rausch]

In my italian family some surnames are:

Incorvaia
Lo Brutto
Marrale
Gracci

If I go by the distribution of surnames are all of distinctly Sicilian origin, except Gracci that appears to be Tuscan. This makes sense since they came from Licata.

According to some sources the surname Incorvaia is a topographic name from corvaia ‘place frequented by crows’, with the addition of the prefix in- ‘belonging to the family of’.

I have not researched much of the rest of surnames, if anyone knows anything about them I would appreciate your contribution.

[Akragas]

My sir name is of Greek origin .

some of the sir names:

Crisafi
Polizotto
Catalanotto
Caristo

[Inquizzzitor]

Some of the Sicilian surnames in my family include:

Azzarello - Arabic
Pantó - Greek
Aricó - Greek
La Macchia - Greek
Scibilia - unknown, possibly indicating "Sevilla" in Spain
Insodda / Zodda - can't remember the origin of this one
Ialacqua - Greek
Sindoni - Greek
Previti - Greek

And my own surname, which I won't say here, but is also of Greek origin.

All from the Province of Messina.