Italianism offers a valuable list of 1000 Italian surnames most popular, providing an immersion in the rich Italian culture and tradition. However, it is important to highlight some points:

• Diversity of surnames: Italy has more than 350 surnames, highlighting the country's variety and cultural richness.
• Evolution of surnames: Time and transcription errors in registry offices (“stato civile”) influenced the spelling and distribution of surnames.

Exploring the Ranking

The ranking shows the position, surname, number of families and number of cities where each surname is present. Rossi, Russo and Ferrari lead the list, demonstrating their popularity in Italy.

To see the complete list of 1000 most common Italian surnames, click the button below.

Italy is the country with the largest number of surnames in the world

Palocci, Mazzafera, Gagliasso, Barrichello, Meneghel... It doesn't matter, the surname can reveal that the public personality or the common citizen has origins in the land of the boot. Did you know there are more than 350 thousand different Italian surnames?

The data are from the Istat (National Institute of Statistics), statistical body of the Italian government. What makes Italy the country with the largest number of surnames in the world.

In Brazil, thanks to Italian immigration, there are millions of descendants who proudly bear their Italian surnames.

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Some have their meaning associated with a physical or psychological family characteristic, or with the job performed.

For example, the surnames Rossi and Russo derive from the word “rosso”, meaning red in Italian. The first Italians who were called this were probably redheads. Another case is the surname Ferrari, which probably has its origins in the word “fabbro”, blacksmith in Italian.

10 Brazilian personalities who have Italian ancestry

Meet 10 Brazilian personalities who have Italian ancestry, and the meanings of their surnames:

• Aloisio Mercadante – politician and economist [the surname means merchant, merchant]
• Bruna Lombardi - actress [means long beard]
• Claudio Taffarel – former footballer [crockery manufacturer or seller]
• Claudio Fontana – actor [means someone who lived near a fountain, a water source]
• Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy – ​​politician [means mattress manufacturer or seller]
• Francisco Cook – actor [means cook]
• Henri Castles – actor [means citizen residing in a castle or in the vicinity of a castle]
• Jair Bolsonaro – politician [the surname derives from bolzon, which means dart, arrow, or archer]
• Luiz Edson Fachin – jurist and magistrate [means loader, carrier of volume objects]
• Walter Casagrande – former footballer [surname given to children rejected by their parents and adopted, raised in an orphanage]

Italian surnames they can also indicate ancestors from other countries who immigrated to Italy. This is the case of Spagnuolo (Spanish), Ungaretti (Hungarian) and Grecco (Greek).

Names from the time of the Roman Empire

Certain names, which date back to the time of Roman Empire, like Leoni and Gatti, are inspired by animals and invoke their attributes: the strength of a lion, the agility of a cat and so on.

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There are also names derived from a striking physical attribute, such as Barbarossa (red beard), Bells (beautiful eyes) or Short Leg (short leg).

Read also

• Did you know that there are more than 350 thousand Italian surnames?
• What are the most common surnames in Italy?
• 62 Italian surnames: curious and different
• Almost 70% of Italian municipalities have less than 5 thousand inhabitants