Surnames in Calabria, Italy
The lists of surnames were derived from the white pages of the 1990's for the recent lists, and from sources as indexes of births, "numerazioni", catasti onciari, parish records for previous centuries.
Surnames in the Provinces of Calabria
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).
Updates
- Province of Catanzaro: Badolato | Montepaone | Sersale | Sant'Andrea Apostolo dello Ionio Simeri Crichi
- Province of Cosenza: Calopezzati | Grimaldi | Malvito | Mongrassano | Pedace
- Province of Crotone: Cotronei | Mesoraca | Strongoli | Rocca di Neto | Crucoli
- Province of Reggio Calabria: San Lorenzo | Seminara | Mammola | Molochio | Gerace
- Province of Vibo Valentia: Maierato | San Costantino Calabro | Monterosso Calabro | Drapia | San Gregorio d'Ippona
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Surnames in the Provinces of Calabria

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
