Surnames in Calabria, Italy

Surnames in the Provinces of Calabria
Catanzaro
- Updates: Caraffa di Catanzaro | Settingiano | Feroleto Antico | Gasperina | San Pietro Apostolo
Cosenza
- Updates: Santa Domenica Talao | Pietrapaola | Albidona | Vaccarizzo Albanese | Orsomarso
Crotone
- Updates: Rocca di Neto | Crucoli | Melissa | Casabona | Roccabernarda | Cirò
Reggio Calabria
- Updates: Bivongi | Bruzzano Zeffirio | Maropati | San Roberto | Giffone | Sinopoli | Riace | Fiumara
Vibo Valentia
- Updates: Fabrizia | San Nicola da Crissa | Zambrone | Stefanaconi | Ionadi | Arena | Brognaturo | Capistrano | Filogaso | Vallelonga
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Family History
Surnames Divided by Region
Abruzzo | Basilicata | Calabria | Campania | Emilia-Romagna | Friuli-Venezia Giulia | Lazio | Liguria | Lombardia | Marche | Molise | Piemonte | Puglia | Sardegna | Sicilia | Toscana | Trentino-Alto Adige | Umbria | Valle d'Aosta | Veneto
Info on Italian Regions

Abruzzo | Basilicata | Calabria | Campania | Emilia-Romagna | Friuli-Venezia Giulia | Latium | Liguria | Lombardy | Marche | Molise | Piedmont | Puglia | Sardinia | Sicily | Tuscany | Trentino-Alto Adige | Umbria | Valle d'Aosta | Veneto
Common Surnames
The surnames recorded in the "tip of the boot", but common as well throughout southern Italy, and almost pan-Italian, as a result of internal emigration to Northern regions, are Bruno, Ferraro, De Luca, Esposito, Gallo, Gentile, Giordano, Mancuso, Marino, Pugliese, Rizzo, Russo.
Features of Surnames in Calabria
Apart from pan-Italian surnames, a peculiar feature of some typical Calabrese surnames is a final accented vowel as in Calabrò, Aricò ("farmer"), Sgrò ("curly hair"), Nisticò ("fasting"), Spanò ("bald") e Praticò ("fatherly"); Cannistrà, Criserà e Barillà; Cutrì, Pennestrì, Putortì, Franzè.
Surnames of non-Italian Origin
Some common surnames in Calabria are connected to the historical presence of other cultures:
- Greek origin, such as Greco, or connected to the Greek ending -iti and -oti as Minniti, Scopelliti, Misiti, Politi, Ascioti, Geracioti, Rotiroti; Laganò (from lacanas = orchard farmer).
- Byzanthine ascendancy, as Romeo, derived from the medieval Byzantine name Romeo: Byzantines defined themselves as Romioi, that is Romans, and their traces in Sicily and Calabria are innumerable.
- Arabic, such as Modafferi (from the Saracen name Mudaffar), Morabito from the Arabic word murabit (= one who preaches Islam on the street, a holy man), Mammone.
- Northern, as Talarico (possibly from the apheresis of the Ostrogoth name Atalarico), Arcuri possibly from the Languebard Arculf, or from the Latin arcarius (= treasurer, tax collector), though another likely origin is from the Greek arkouda (= bear).