lastnamegenerators

Italian Last Names

Browse hundreds of Italian last names from every region, from Rossi and Russo to Sardinian and Venetian family names, each with its meaning. Use the letter filter to jump through the list, or the generator for a few quick random picks.

300 real surnames with meanings, A to Z.

A

  • Abate

    Abbot, or servant of an abbot

  • Agnelli

    Lambs, a gentle person

  • Aiello

    Small field, from Latin agellus

  • D'Alessandro

    Son of Alessandro

  • Alessi

    Descendant of Alessio

  • Alfieri

    Standard bearer

  • Amato

    Beloved

  • D'Amico

    Son of Amico, friend

  • Amoroso

    Loving, amorous, an affectionate person

  • Angelini

    Little angel, descendant of Angelino

  • De Angelis

    Of the angels, son of Angelo

  • D'Angelo

    Son of Angelo

  • Atzori

    Sardinian, of uncertain origin

B

  • Bacci

    Descendant of Baccio, Bartolomeo

  • Baggio

    Lombard habitational name from Baggio near Milan

  • Baldini

    Descendant of Baldo, bold

  • Barbieri

    Barbers

  • Barone

    Baron, or servant of a baron

  • Bartolini

    Descendant of Bartolo

  • Basile

    Royal, from Basil

  • Bassi

    Short, low, plural form

  • Battaglia

    Battle, a fighter

  • Bellini

    Little beautiful one

  • Bellucci

    Little beautiful one, Tuscan form

  • Beltrame

    From Germanic Bertram, Venetian

  • Benedetti

    Blessed, descendant of Benedetto

  • Bernardi

    Descendant of Bernardo

  • Bertolucci

    Descendant of Bertoluccio, little Berto

  • Bertone

    Piedmontese augmentative of Berto

  • Bertozzi

    Descendant of Berto, Romagna

  • Bianchi

    White, fair-haired

  • Bianchini

    Little white one

  • Bianco

    White, singular form

  • Boccaccio

    Ugly mouth, nickname

  • Bocelli

    Descendant of Bocello, a diminutive

  • Bonanno

    Good year, a birth wish

  • Bonaparte

    Good part, good share

  • Bonaventura

    Good fortune, a lucky child

  • Borgia

    Italian form of Spanish Borja

  • Bortolotti

    Descendant of Bortolo, Bartholomew, Venetian

  • Bosco

    Wood, forest, dweller by a wood

  • Brambilla

    Milanese habitational name from Brembilla

  • Bruni

    Brown-haired, plural form

  • Bruno

    Brown-haired

  • Buffon

    Buffoon, jester, Venetian

  • Buonarroti

    From the personal name Buonarroto, good increase

  • Buonocore

    Good heart, a kind person

C

  • Cacciatore

    Hunter, one who hunts game

  • Calabrese

    Person from Calabria

  • Calabrò

    Person from Calabria

  • Campanella

    Little bell, bell ringer

  • Canepa

    Hemp, hemp grower, Genoese

  • Cannavaro

    Hemp grower, from Naples

  • Cannizzaro

    Sicilian, reed cutter or basket maker

  • Capobianco

    White head, white-haired

  • Capuano

    Person from Capua

  • Caputo

    Big head, a stubborn person

  • Carbone

    Charcoal, charcoal burner

  • Di Carlo

    Son of Carlo

  • Carlucci

    Descendant of Carluccio

  • Carta

    Sardinian, paper, or a nickname

  • Caruso

    Boy, young man, apprentice

  • Casadei

    Of the house of God, Romagna

  • Cassano

    Habitational name from Cassano delle Murge

  • Castellano

    Castle keeper, castellan

  • Castelli

    Castles, dweller by a castle

  • Castellucci

    Descendant of Castelluccio, little castle

  • Castiglione

    Habitational name from a large castle

  • Catalano

    Person from Catalonia

  • Catania

    From the Sicilian city of Catania

  • Cattaneo

    Captain, chief

  • Cavallo

    Horse, horseman

  • Cecchi

    Descendant of Cecco, Francesco

  • Cesari

    Descendant of Cesare

  • Ciampi

    Tuscan nickname, possibly lame

  • Ciccone

    Big Francesco

  • Cipriani

    Descendant of Cipriano, from Cyprus

  • Cirillo

    From Cyril, southern

  • Cocco

    Sardinian, egg or a darling child

  • Colombo

    Dove

  • Colucci

    Descendant of Coluccio, Nicola

  • Conte

    Count, nobleman

  • Conti

    Counts, servant of a count

  • Coppola

    Flat cap, cap maker

  • Corda

    Sardinian, rope or cord maker

  • Corleone

    Habitational name from a Sicilian town

  • Corsi

    Person from Corsica

  • Corti

    Short, small person, Lombard

  • Cossu

    Sardinian, of uncertain origin

  • Costa

    Dweller on a slope or coast

  • Costantini

    Descendant of Costantino, constant

  • Costanzo

    Constant, from Constantius

  • Cozzolino

    Little Cozzo, Neapolitan

  • Cristiano

    Christian, a devout person

  • Crupi

    Calabrian nickname, from Greek, bald

  • Cuomo

    Neapolitan, possibly from Como

D

  • Dal Monte

    From the mountain, northern

  • Deiana

    Sardinian, of uncertain origin

  • Dell'Orto

    Of the garden

  • Donati

    Descendant of Donato, given by God

E

  • Errico

    Neapolitan form of Enrico

  • Esposito

    Exposed, a foundling child

  • Esposto

    Exposed, a foundling child

F

  • Fabbri

    Smiths, craftsmen

  • Fabbro

    Smith, craftsman

  • Fabiani

    Descendant of Fabiano

  • Falcone

    Falcon, falconer

  • Farina

    Flour, miller

  • Fazio

    From Bonifazio, Sicilian

  • Fellini

    Descendant of Fellino, a diminutive

  • Ferrante

    From Ferdinando, or ferrante, iron grey

  • Ferrara

    From the city of Ferrara

  • Ferrari

    Blacksmiths, ironworkers

  • Ferraro

    Blacksmith, singular southern form

  • Ferrero

    Blacksmith, Piedmontese dialect form

  • Ferretti

    Little iron, ironworker

  • Ferri

    Iron, ironworker

  • Filippi

    Descendant of Filippo

  • Fiore

    Flower

  • Fiorentino

    Person from Florence

  • Floris

    Sardinian, flowers, a flower seller

  • Fois

    Sardinian, possibly ox

  • Fontana

    Dweller near a spring

  • Forte

    Strong, a powerful person

  • Di Francesco

    Son of Francesco

  • Franco

    Free, or a Frank

  • Frigerio

    Lombard, possibly from Frigerius

  • Fumagalli

    Traditionally explained as smoke roosters, a nickname for a chicken thief

  • Furlan

    Person from Friuli

  • Fusco

    Dark, swarthy, dark-haired

G

  • Gagliardi

    Vigorous, bold

  • Galbiati

    Lombard habitational name from Galbiate

  • Galli

    Roosters, plural of Gallo

  • Gallo

    Rooster, nickname for a proud person

  • Garofalo

    Carnation, or a whirlpool

  • Gatti

    Cats, nickname for an agile person

  • Genovese

    Person from Genoa

  • Gentile

    Noble, courteous, gentle

  • Di Giacomo

    Son of Giacomo

  • Giannini

    Little Giovanni, Tuscan form

  • Giordano

    From the River Jordan

  • Di Giovanni

    Son of Giovanni

  • Giuffrida

    Sicilian, from Germanic Godfrey

  • Giuliani

    Descendant of Giuliano

  • Gonzaga

    Habitational name from Gonzaga near Mantua

  • Gori

    Descendant of Gregorio

  • Grassi

    Fat, stout, plural form

  • Grasso

    Fat, stout

  • Greco

    Greek

  • Grillo

    Cricket, a cheerful person

  • Grimaldi

    Genoese, from Germanic Grimwald

  • Guarino

    Guard, protector, from Germanic warin

  • Guerra

    War, a soldier

  • Guidi

    Descendant of Guido

I

  • Iannaccone

    Augmentative of Ianni, Giovanni

  • Iannuzzi

    Little Giovanni, southern form

  • Innocenti

    Foundling, from the Innocenti hospital in Florence

L

  • Lai

    Sardinian, possibly from Nicolai

  • Landi

    Descendant of Lando

  • Lanza

    Lance, a soldier

  • Lattanzio

    From Latin Lactantius

  • Lauro

    Laurel, dweller by laurel trees

  • Leone

    Lion

  • Lo Bianco

    The white one, Sicilian

  • Lo Duca

    The duke, Sicilian form

  • Lo Giudice

    The judge, Sicilian

  • Lo Presti

    The priest, Sicilian

  • Locatelli

    Lombard habitational name from Locatello

  • Loi

    Sardinian, possibly from Aloisio

  • Lombardi

    Person from Lombardy

  • Lombardini

    Little Lombard

  • Lombardo

    Lombard, from northern Italy

  • Longo

    Tall, long

  • Di Lorenzo

    Son of Lorenzo

  • Lorusso

    The red-haired one, Apulian

  • De Luca

    Son of Luca

M

  • Maggio

    May, born in May

  • Maldini

    Descendant of Maldino, from Rimaldo

  • Manca

    Sardinian, left-handed person

  • Mancini

    Left-handed

  • Mancuso

    Left-handed person, Sicilian form

  • La Manna

    The manna, Sicilian nickname

  • Manzo

    Steer, ox, a strong person

  • Marangon

    Carpenter, Venetian dialect form

  • Marchese

    Marquis, or servant of a marquis

  • Marchetti

    Little Marco

  • Marchi

    Descendant of Marco

  • De Marco

    Son of Marco

  • Di Marco

    Son of Marco

  • Marconi

    Big Marco, augmentative of Marco

  • Mariani

    Descendant of Mariano

  • Marini

    Of the sea, plural of Marino

  • Marino

    Of the sea, from Marinus

  • Marras

    Sardinian, hoe, a farm laborer

  • Martinelli

    Little Martino

  • Martini

    Descendant of Martino

  • Martino

    From the given name Martin

  • De Martino

    Son of Martino

  • Massa

    Habitational name from Massa in Tuscany

  • Mastrangelo

    Master Angelo, southern

  • Mastroianni

    Master Giovanni, southern

  • Mattarella

    Sicilian, possibly from a small plot of land

  • Di Matteo

    Son of Matteo

  • Mauro

    Moorish, dark-skinned person

  • Mazza

    Club, mace, or a stout person

  • Medici

    Doctors, physicians, the Florentine family

  • Mele

    Apples, or honey in the south

  • Melis

    Sardinian, honey or beekeeper

  • Meloni

    Sardinian, melon grower

  • Merlo

    Blackbird, a singer or clever person

  • Messina

    From the city of Messina

  • Milani

    Person from Milan

  • Molinari

    Millers, workers at a mill

  • Monaco

    Monk, or servant of a monk

  • Montanari

    Mountain dwellers

  • Monti

    Dweller on the mountains

  • Morelli

    Little dark one

  • Moretti

    Little dark one

  • Mura

    Sardinian, walls or brambles

  • Murgia

    Sardinian, from a rocky place

N

  • Napolitano

    Person from Naples

  • Negri

    Dark-haired, plural form

  • Neri

    Black-haired, or from Ranieri

O

  • D'Onofrio

    Son of Onofrio

  • Orlando

    Famous land, from Roland

  • Orsini

    Little bear

P

  • Pace

    Peace

  • Pagano

    Pagan, villager

  • Palmieri

    Palmer, pilgrim who brought back a palm

  • Palumbo

    Wood pigeon, dove

  • Di Paolo

    Son of Paolo

  • Pappalardo

    Sicilian nickname, greedy eater

  • Parisi

    From the personal name Parisio, or someone from Paris

  • Pastore

    Shepherd, keeper of flocks

  • Pellegrini

    Pilgrims

  • Pellegrino

    Pilgrim

  • Perrone

    Big Pietro, southern form

  • Piccolo

    Small, little

  • Del Piero

    Son of Piero

  • Di Pietro

    Son of Pietro

  • Pinna

    Sardinian, feather or rock peak

  • Piras

    Sardinian, pear trees

  • Pisano

    Person from Pisa

  • La Porta

    The gate, Sicilian

  • Pugliese

    Person from Apulia

  • Puglisi

    Sicilian form of Pugliese

R

  • Randazzo

    Sicilian habitational name near Etna

  • Ricci

    Curly-haired

  • Ricciardi

    Descendant of Riccardo

  • Rinaldi

    Son of Rinaldo, counsel and rule

  • Riva

    Dweller on a riverbank or shore

  • Rizzi

    Curly-haired, northern form

  • Rizzo

    Curly-haired

  • Rocco

    From the given name Rocco, of Germanic origin

  • Romano

    Roman, from Rome

  • Romeo

    Pilgrim to Rome, Calabrian

  • De Rosa

    Of Rosa, the rose

  • La Rosa

    The rose, Sicilian

  • Rossetti

    Little red-haired one

  • Rossi

    Red-haired, plural of Rosso

  • Rossini

    Little red-haired one

  • Rosso

    Red-haired, singular form

  • Ruggeri

    Descendant of Ruggero

  • Ruggiero

    Famous spear, from Roger

  • Russo

    Red-haired, southern form

S

  • Sabatini

    Descendant of Sabatino, born on Saturday

  • Sala

    Hall, manor house

  • Salerno

    From the city of Salerno

  • Salvatore

    Savior

  • Sanna

    Sardinian, tusk or large tooth

  • Santini

    Little saint, a pious person

  • De Santis

    Of the saints

  • Santoro

    All Saints, born on All Saints Day

  • Sartori

    Tailors

  • Scotti

    Person from Scotland or Ireland, northern

  • Serafini

    Descendant of Serafino, seraph

  • Serra

    Mountain ridge, sawyer

  • Siciliano

    Person from Sicily

  • Silvestri

    Of the woods, from Silvestro

  • De Simone

    Son of Simone

  • Sorrentino

    Person from Sorrento

  • Spinelli

    Little thorn, or from Spinello

  • Di Stefano

    Son of Stefano

T

  • Tarantino

    Person from Taranto

  • Tedesco

    German

  • Testa

    Head, nickname for a stubborn person

  • Toscano

    Person from Tuscany

  • Trevisan

    Person from Treviso, Venetian

V

  • Vaccaro

    Cowherd

  • Valente

    Strong, worthy

  • Valentini

    Descendant of Valentino

  • Della Valle

    Of the valley

  • Del Vecchio

    Son of the old man

  • Ventura

    Fortune, good luck

  • Villa

    Country house, village

  • Vinci

    Habitational name from Vinci in Tuscany

  • De Vita

    Son of Vita, life

  • Vitale

    Vital, full of life

  • Volpe

    Fox, a cunning person

Z

  • Zanetti

    Little Giovanni, Venetian form

Generate random italian surnames

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Results (6)

  • Boccaccio

    Ugly mouth, nickname

  • Pugliese

    Person from Apulia

  • Tassinari

    Romagna name, possibly from tasso, badger or yew

  • Romano

    Roman, from Rome

  • Melis

    Sardinian, honey or beekeeper

  • Fiore

    Flower

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    Why Italian last names end in -i or -o

    The final vowel of an Italian surname often hints at where a family comes from. Names from the north and centre tend to end in -i, as in Rossi, Bianchi, Ferrari and Ricci. That -i comes from a Latin plural or genitive, so Rossi can be read as belonging to the Rosso family, the red-haired ones. Southern names more often end in -o, which is why the same nickname gives Russo in Naples and Sicily but Rossi in Tuscany and Lombardy.

    Other regions have their own signatures. Sardinian surnames such as Piras, Melis and Porcu often end in -s or -u, reflecting the Sardinian language. Venetian names frequently drop the final vowel, giving Zanon, Marin and Bortolin. Southern families often carry the articles Lo and La, as in Lo Russo or La Rosa, while De and Di, meaning of or son of, appear everywhere: De Luca, Di Stefano, De Santis. The endings -ini, -etti and -ello are diminutives, so Martinelli means little Martino.

    The meanings behind well-known Italian surnames

    Many Italian surnames started as nicknames. Bianchi meant white or fair, Bruno brown, Ricci and Rizzo curly-haired, Mancini left-handed and Grasso fat. Others record a trade: Ferrari from ferraro, the blacksmith, Sartori from the tailor, Barbieri from the barber and Fabbri from the smith or craftsman. Place names are just as common. Romano means from Rome, Greco points to Greek ancestry or trade links, Lombardi means from Lombardy and Napolitano means from Naples.

    One of the most widespread southern names has a story worth knowing. Esposito comes from the Latin expositus, meaning exposed or placed outside, and it was given to foundling children left at church wheels and hospitals, especially in Naples. It is now among the most common surnames in Campania and carries no stigma. Hopeful names such as Diotallevi (may God raise you), Benedetto and Bonaventura were also given to foundlings, or chosen simply for good luck.

    Records, marriage and choosing a name

    Hereditary surnames spread early in Italy. Wealthy families in Venice, Florence and Genoa used fixed names by the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and the Council of Trent in 1563 required parishes to keep baptism and marriage registers, which fixed surnames for ordinary families too. Italian women do not legally change their surname at marriage, so a wife keeps her own name on official records, a detail worth getting right when writing realistic Italian characters.

    When you choose a name from the list, match it to a region if your story has one. A family from Palermo named Esposito or Russo feels right, while Brambilla and Colombo belong to Milan and Lombardy. Italian emigrants carried these names to the United States, Argentina, Brazil and Australia, sometimes adjusting the spelling along the way, so a name like Deluca or Russo may turn up far from Italy. Check the meaning too, since a character called Mancini is, literally, the left-handed one.

    Frequently asked questions

    Which Italian last names are the most common?

    Rossi is usually the most common surname in Italy, followed by Russo, Ferrari, Esposito, Bianchi, Romano, Colombo, Ricci, Marino and Greco. Rossi and Russo are the same nickname for red hair, in its northern and southern forms.

    What do Italian surnames ending in -elli or -etti mean?

    Those endings are diminutives, meaning little or son of. Martinelli comes from little Martino, Righetti from a small form of a name like Arrigo, and Pastorelli from a little shepherd. Many families gained these forms to tell apart branches that shared the same basic name.

    Do Italian women change their surname when they marry?

    Legally, no. An Italian woman keeps her birth surname on identity documents for life, though she may use her husband's name socially. Children traditionally took the father's surname, but since a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling both parents' surnames are the default unless they agree on one.

    Why is Esposito such a common name in Naples?

    Esposito means exposed and was given to abandoned children taken in by institutions such as the Annunziata foundling hospital in Naples. Over the centuries a very large number of families descended from these children, so the name became one of the most frequent in Campania.

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