The map above shows which surnames (last names) are most popular in each Italian region. Although, even these surnames only account for around 1% of all Italian surnames due to the huge diversity that exists.
Reddit user medhelan also points out a few other interesting things:
- The Rossi/Russo North/South divide with both surnames meaning “red”
- The variations of Ferrero/Ferrari/Fabbri/Fabris/Favre in the North all meaning “smith”
- The almost total absence of surnames ending in -i in the South while they’re extremely common in the North and in the Centre
- -n ending surnames in Veneto and Friuli due to the elimination of the final -i
- Austro-Bavarian surnames in Trentino-Sudtyrol and Arpitan surnames in Val d’Aosta
- The difference between Sardinia and the rest of the country
You can learn more about Italian genealogy and surnames from the following books:
- Our Italian Surnames
- The Family Tree Italian Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Family Tree in Italy
- Italian Genealogical Records: How to Use Italian Civil, Ecclesiastical & Other Records in Family History Research (Italian Edition)
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Tomasz Pluskiewicz says
+1 if read those labels with Italian-esque accent 馃榾
toropazzoide says
I’d like to point that “Russo” by itself means “russian”, not “red”. Or, as verb, it could mean “russare” (“Io russo” = “I snore”). I don’t doubt that it comes from a modified “rosso”, but in modern italian that’s not what it means.
(source: I’m italian)