A name in the Italian language consists of agiven name (Italian:nome) and asurname (cognome); in most contexts, the given name is written before the surname, although in official documents, the surname may be written before the given name or names.
Italian names, with their fixednome andcognome structure, differ from the ancientRoman naming conventions, which used atripartite system ofgiven name,gentile name, andhereditary or personal name (or names).
The Italiannome is not analogous to the ancient Romannomen; the Italiannome is the given name (distinct between siblings), while the Romannomen is thegentile name (inherited, thus shared by all in agens). Female naming traditions, and name-changing rules after adoption for both sexes, likewise differ between Roman antiquity and modern Italian use. Moreover, the low number, and the steady decline of importance and variety, of Romanpraenomina starkly contrast with the current number of Italian given names.[1][2]
In Southern Italy, one portion in a person's name may be determined by thename day (onomastico). These name days are determined according to thesanctorale, a cycle found in theGeneral Roman Calendar, which assigns to a day a saint (or as to the great majority of days, several saints), so that different names often are celebrated on that day.[3] Traditionally, parents fix the name day of their child atchristening, according to their favourite saint; in case of different ones (on different days) with the same name; that child will carry it throughout life. In the case of multiple given names, the child will celebrate only one, usually the first.
Typical Italian male given names:
Typical Italian female names:
A few names end with an accented vowel, for instanceNiccolò.
Almost every base name can have a diminutive form ending with -ino/-ina, as in Carolina from Carola, Martina from Marta, or -etto/etta, or -ello/-ella. Diminutive forms can vary depending on the dialect.
The most common names are:[4][5]
Since the ancient Romans had a very limited stock of given names (praenomina), very few modern Italian given names (nomi) are derived directly fromthe classical ones. A rare example would beMarco (fromMarcus).
Somenomi were taken from classical clan names (nomina) for their meanings or because they are euphonic, such asEmilio/Emilia (fromAemilius),Valerio/Valeria (fromValerius),Claudio/Claudia (fromClaudius), Orazio (fromHoratius),Fabio (from thecognomenFabius),Flavio/Flavia (fromFlavius).
When combined with a second given name,Giovanni andPietro are commonly contracted toGian- andPier-, as inGiancarlo,Gianfranco,Gianluca,Gianluigi, Gianmarco, Giampaolo (Gianpaolo), Giampiero (Gianpiero), Pierfrancesco, Piergiorgio, Pierluigi, Pierpaolo, and so on.
Italianunisex names are very rare (e.g.Celeste), but the feminine nameMaria can be used as a masculine second name, as inCarlo Maria,Gianmaria, etc.
Italy has the largest collection of surnames (cognomi) of any country in the world, with over 350,000.[6][7] Men—except slaves—inancient Rome always had hereditary surnames, i.e.,nomen (clan name) andcognomen (side-clan name). However, the multi-name tradition was lost by theMiddle Ages. Outside the aristocracy, where surnames were oftenpatronymic or those of manors or fiefs, most Italians began to assume hereditary surnames around 1450.
Registration of baptisms and marriages became mandatory in parishes after theCouncil of Trent in 1564.[8]
A large number of Italian surnames end ini due to themedieval Italian habit of identifying families by the name of the ancestors in the plural (which has an-i suffix in Italian). For instance, Filippo from the Ormanno family (gli Ormanni) would be called "Filippo degli Ormanni" ("Filippo of the Ormannos"). In time, the middle possessive portion ("of the") was dropped, but surnames became permanently pluralized even for a single person. Filippo Ormanno would therefore be known as Filippo Ormanni.[9][10] Some families, however, opted to retain the possessive portion of their surnames, for instanceLorenzo de' Medici literally means "Lorenzo of the Medici" (de' is a contraction ofdei, also meaning "of the"; cf.The Medicis). Another example of the use of plural suffix in Italian surnames isManieri which is the plural form of Mainiero.[11]
Some common suffixes indicate endearment (which may also become pluralized and receive an-i ending), for example:
Other endings are characteristic of certain regions:[6]
As in most other European naming traditions,patronymics are common. Originally they were indicated by a possessive, e.g., Francesco de Bernardo, meaning "Francis (the son) of Bernard".De Luca ("[son] of Luke") remains one of the most common Italian surnames. However,de ("of") was often dropped and suffixes added, hencede Bernardo evolved to beBernardo and eventually pluralized asBernardi (seeSuffixes above).
The origin or residence of the family gave rise to many surnames, e.g.:
Ancestors' occupation was also a great source of surnames:
Nicknames, referring to physical attributes or mannerism, also gave rise to some family names, e.g.,Rossi ("redhead") andMancini ("left-handed").
Another common category is surnames given toabandoned children and foundlings:Casadei ("house of God"),Colombo ("dove"),Di Dio ("of God"),Esposito ("exposed"),Innocenti ("innocent"),Proietti ("cast away"),Sperandio ("hope in God"),Trovati ("found"),Venturini (related to "venture").[14]Umberto Eco andFranco Zeffirelli's surnames also are foundling names.[14]
A few family names are still in the originalLatin, likeDe Amicis andFerraris, reflecting that the family name has been preserved fromMedieval Latin sources as a part of their business or household documentation or church records.
In some areas of Italy, individuals and their descendants may have taken a second surname, attached to the first by the worddetto,vulgo, ordit (all meaning “called” or “known as”). This practice was mostly used to distinguish between different branches of the same family, especially when the families remained in the same town for generations.
Occasionally, a very similar name to the one already used by the family was adopted in order to better parallel local naming styles. For example, when they settled and foundedtheir firm in France, the Mellerio family of jewellers, fromValle Vigezzo, modified their name to Melleriodits Meller.
Some families with such names eventually drop the first part or even in rare cases the second, as with the Mellerio family (the expanded form of whose name now survives only in the name of their company).
The traditional rule, which is the common usage, especially in Tuscany, is that in referring to people by their surnames alone, the definite article should be used (il for most parts,lo before some consonants and consonant clusters andl' before vowels).[9]Mario Rossi, therefore, is calledil Rossi ("the Rossi"). Now, some prefer to use the article only or chiefly for historical surnames ("l'Ariosto", "il Manzoni", etc.)
Male given names are never preceded by an article except in popular northern regional usage.
However, in Tuscany and the rest of Northern Italy, given names of females are usually preceded by articles (la Giulia) unless one is speaking of a woman who is personally unknown (such asCleopatra,Maria Stuarda, with no article).[15] That is also the traditional grammar rule.
Articles are also used (more often than with those of men) with the surnames of women:Gianni Rossi can be calledil Rossi or (especially nowadays) simplyRossi, butGiulia Bianchi is usuallyla Bianchi (alsola Giulia Bianchi).
Names that are derived from possessions of noble families normally never had articles preceding them such as theHouse of Farnese (from a territorial holding) and theCornaro family (from aprince-bishopric). Articles were also omitted for surnames with an identifiable foreign origin (including Latin ones) such asCicerone.[9]
That practice somewhat resembles the Greek custom of placing definite articles beforeall names (seeGreek names). The Greco-Italian practice even spread to French in the 17th century, especially in writings regarding figures in literature and painting such aslePoussin.[9]
1200–1500 […] the habit, peculiar to Italian, of considering the members of a given family as a collective unity and referring to them by the name of an ancestor in the plural, with the definite article. […] An individual was referred to as So-and-so of the So-and-sos:messer Ormanno degli Ormanni,Alepro de' Galigai, etc.
In a large part of central and northern Italy, the development of the singular surname went one step further. […] Our hypothetical d'Alberto family acquired power[, …] it became known asdegli Alberti, of the Alberts. […] In due time, the singular surname disappeared, and the plural with or without the preposition remained to refer to both family and individual.
