The Italian surname Moretti originates from Latin Maurus, which in turn is derived from the Greek term amaurus, meaning “dark complexion”. The word was used to indicate people with dark skin and the inhabitants of Mauritania, country of West Africa.
The term Mauro was an allusion to the people in general of North Africa (Moors ou moresche) and was also adopted as a surname in Ancient Rome.
Na Middle Ages the surname was written as Moro or Mourus and, when added with the diminutive suffix (etti and its variations), it had the meaning “little moor”.
There are records of this surname in the year 1400 in the city of Erbusco, located in the province of Brescia, in the Lombardy region of Italy.
Moretti in Italy
The surname Moretti is widespread throughout peninsular Italy, but has variants in other areas, such as Moret, specific to the areas of Treviso, Belluno and Pordenone.
Other variants are morettino, with occurrences in the southern region, Morucci, with lineages between Livorno and Pisa and between Viterbo and Rome. As for the surname Moruccio, almost unique, is from central Italy.
There are more variants of this family name, including Moretto, Moruzzo and Moruzzi.
Popularity
According to the Italian website Cognomix, are approximately 10.926 Moretti families in Italy, with the regions with the most occurrences being Lombardy (2570), Lazio (1720) and Toscana (1168)
The surname Moretti is the 5th most popular in the Umbria region and the province of Perugia and the most popular in the city of Esperia, which is in the province of Frosinone, located in the region of Lazio.
Moretti in Brazil
In Brazil, this family name arrived at the time of Italian immigration, started at the end of the 19th century.
Among the pioneers are the families of Raiomondo Moretti, who arrived in Vitória, in Espírito Santo, aboard the ship Werneck on October 26, 1876, and then sent to colony of Santa Leopoldina.
Another immigrant in the family was Luigi Moretto, coming on the ship Mario, which disembarked in Vitória on December 19, 1888 and then went to Itapemirim.
Several immigrants with the surname Moretti and its variants also arrived in the states of Rio Grande do Sul e São Paulo.
Biographies
Among the famous people in the family is Gervasio Moretti (1940 – 2007), a technical and scientific illustrator, known for introducing airbrushing courses in Brazil.
Born in São Paulo, he worked at the automobile company Willis, where he developed and improved his talent with the airbrush.
A well-known name in the family is the Brazilian musician Fabrizio Moretti, 42 years old. Born in Rio de Janeiro on June 2, 1980, he plays drums and is one of the founders of the North American band The Strokes.
Italian director
Another personality is the film director Nanni Moretti, 69 years old, born in Brunico, city in the province of Bolzano, region of Trentino-Alto Adige, in Italy.
He is the director of films such as Dear Diary, awarded the palm d'or best director in Cannes film festival in 1994.
Nanni Moretti also directed Sweet dreams (1981), which won the Golden Lion, the grand special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival and The final table (1985), awarded the following year with the Silver Bear at the Berlin Festival.
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