Popular Italian surnames. Individual style of the Italian mafia

The familiar surname appeared in Italy only in the 17th century. It was at this time that the first problems with distinguishing people by name formed. Initially, surnames originated in Venice and were given exclusively to nobles, then they became further widespread.

Where did Italian surnames come from?

There are the following main sources of origin of Italian surnames:

• derivatives on behalf of the father or founder of the clan; much less often, surnames can be a reference to the name of the mother;
• geographical feature: surnames derived from names hometown or villages;
• surnames that are a description of the internal or external qualities of a person;
• surnames related to the profession.

There was in Italy its own principle of endowing the surname of foundlings. In each region, a special list Italian surnames, having a religious orientation. The surnames of northerners and southerners also differed: the former in most cases ended in “i”, and the latter in “o”. With regard to gender differences, male and female Italian surnames have the same form.

Famous Italian surnames, their meaning and history

Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous Italians of all times. Your last name great artist received from the name of the town in which he was born and grew up. No less famous Italian architect and sculptor Andrea Pisano acquired such rare surname thanks to the city of Pisa where he lived. However, his real name is Pontedera, and it also comes from the name of the village in which he was born.

Vivid examples of surnames derived from the profession belong to the Florentine artists Domenico Ghirlandaio and Andrea Sarto. The ancestors of the first, most likely, were gardeners, and the father of the second was a tailor.

In addition to world-famous Italian surnames, there are also those that are most popular among the population, such as Ivanov and Petrov among Russians. These include, first of all, Rossi (Rossi) and Bianchi (Bianchi), which in translation mean “red” and “white”. These surnames, obviously, are descriptive and express the shade of a person's skin.

The most common Italian surnames

• Bruno (Bruno) - translated means "brown", derived from the color of the skin;
• Ferrari (Ferrari) - translated as “blacksmith”, which means that the ancestors of the founders of the automobile corporation were engaged in just such a craft;
• Esposito (Esposito) - a surname for foundlings, translated meaning "abandoned", etc.

TOP 5 funniest Italian surnames

Italian surnames sound very beautiful, but among them there are also very funny ones. Here are 5 of the funniest ones in our opinion:

• Saltaformaggio. The translation is “jumping cheese”, and pronouncing “Saltaformaggio” is not given to everyone!
• Finocchio. At first glance, Finocchio is a very harmless surname, but this is what the Italian people call gays.
• Pelagatti. Beautiful sounding surname Pelagatti in translation means "to deprive the hair of cats."
• maniaco. Probably not very lucky for the Italians with speaking surname Maniaco.
• Puzzolente. Pazzolente, which translates as "stinky", is also not the most attractive surname.

Surnames of Italian mafiosi

Since the Italian mafia was born almost at the same time when the surnames began their origin, the history of criminal clans stretches from there and the names are corresponding:

• Profaci - can be translated as "to desecrate" or if you take English transcription, then the word “profession” is obtained;
• Colombo - translated means dove, most likely, the ancestor bred pigeons;
• Orena - can be translated as arena, a surname with Turkish roots;
• Persico is Persian.

Thus, it is safe to say that Italian surnames are distinguished by their sonority of pronunciation and the beauty of sound. There are both elegant and funny among them, but all of them are interesting and unique in their own way.

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Hardly anyone today has not heard of the mafia. In the middle of the nineteenth century, this word entered the dictionary of the Italian language. It is known that in 1866 the authorities knew about the mafia, or at least what was called by this word. The British consul in Silicia reported to his homeland that he was constantly witnessing the activities of the mafia, which maintains links with criminals and owns large sums of money...

The word "mafia" most likely has Arabic roots and comes from the word: mu`afah. It has many meanings, but none of them comes close to the phenomenon that soon came to be called the "mafia". But there is another hypothesis for the spread of this word in Italy. Allegedly, this happened during the uprisings of 1282. There were civil unrest in Sicily. They went down in history as the Sicilian Vespers. During the protests, one cry was born, which was quickly picked up by the protesters, it sounded like this: “Death to France! Die, Italy! If you make an abbreviation in Italian from the first letters of the words, it will sound like "MAFIA".

The first mafia organization in Italy

Determining the origins of this phenomenon is much more difficult than the etymology of the word. Many historians who have studied the mafia say that the first organization was created in the seventeenth century. In those days, secret societies were popular, which were created to fight the Holy Roman Empire. Others believe that mafia sources are like mass phenomenon worth looking for at the throne of the Bourbons. Because it was they who used the services of unreliable persons and robbers, who did not require large remuneration for their work, in order to patrol parts of the city that were distinguished by increased criminal activity. The reason that the criminal elements in the service of the government were content with little and did not have large salaries was that they took bribes so that the violation of the laws did not become known to the king.

Or maybe the Gabelloti were the first?

The third, but no less popular hypothesis of the emergence of the mafia points to the Gabelloti organization, which acted as a kind of intermediary between the peasants and the people who owned the land. The Gabelloti representatives were also obliged to collect tribute. History is silent about how people were selected for this organization. But all those who ended up in the bosom of Gabelloti were dishonest. Soon they created a separate caste with their own laws and codes. The structure was unofficial, but it had a tremendous influence in Italian society.

None of the theories described above have been proven. But each is built on one common element - great distance between the Sicilians and the government, which they considered imposed, unjust and alien, and, naturally, they wanted to remove.

How did the mafia originate?

In those days, the Sicilian peasant had absolutely no rights. He felt humiliated in his own state. Majority ordinary people worked on latifundia - enterprises owned by large feudal lords. Work on the latifundia was hard and poorly paid physical labor.

Dissatisfaction with power spun like a spiral that one day had to go off. And so it happened: the authorities ceased to cope with their duties. And the people chose new power. Positions such as amici (friend) and uomini d`onore (people of honor) became popular, becoming local judges and kings.

Honest Bandits

An interesting fact about Italian mafia we find in Brydon Patrick in the book "Journey to Sicily and Malta", which was written in 1773. The author writes: “The bandits have become the most respected people on the whole island. They had noble and even romantic goals. These bandits had their own code of honor, and those who violated it died instantly. They were loyal and unprincipled. To kill a person for a Sicilian bandit does not mean anything if the person had guilt behind his soul.

Patrick's words are relevant to this day. However, not everyone knows that once Italy almost got rid of the mafia once and for all. This happened during the reign of Mussolini. The head of the police fought the mafia with its own weapons. The government knew no mercy. And just like the mafiosi, she did not hesitate before the shot.

World War II and the rise of the mafia

Perhaps if the Second World War, we would not talk now about such a phenomenon as the mafia. But, ironically, the landing of the Americans in Sicily equalized the forces. For the Americans, the mafia became the only source of information about the location and strength of Mussolini's troops. For the mafiosi themselves, cooperation with the Americans practically guaranteed freedom of action on the island after the end of the war.

We read about similar arguments in the book “The Great Godfather Vito Bruschini: “The mafia had the support of allies, so it was in her hands that the distribution of humanitarian aid - a variety of food products. For example, in Palermo, food was transported on the basis that five hundred thousand people live there. But since the majority of the population has moved to a more peaceful countryside not far from the city, the mafia had every opportunity to bring the remaining humanitarian aid after distribution to the black market.”

Help the mafia in the war

Because the mafia and Peaceful time practiced a variety of sabotage against the authorities, with the outbreak of war, she continued such activities more actively. History knows at least one documented case of sabotage, when the Goering tank brigade, which was stationed at the Nazi base, refueled with water and oil. As a result, the engines of the tanks burned out, and the vehicles ended up in the workshops instead of the front.

post-war period

After the allies occupied the island, the influence of the mafia only increased. "Intelligent criminals" were often appointed to the military government. In order not to be unfounded, here are the statistics: out of 66 towns, the main ones in 62 were people from the underworld. The further flourishing of the mafia was associated with the investment of previously laundered money in business and its increase in connection with the sale of drugs.

Individual style of the Italian mafia

Each member of the mafia understood that his activity was fraught with risk, so he made sure that his family did not live in poverty in the event of the death of the "breadwinner".

In society, mafiosi are very severely punished for ties with the police, and even more so for cooperation. A person was not accepted into the mafia circle if he had a relative from the police. And for appearing in public places with a representative of law and order, they could be killed. Interestingly, both alcoholism and drug addiction were not welcomed in the family. Despite this, many mafiosi were fond of both, the temptation was very great.

The Italian mafia is very punctual. Being late is considered bad manners and disrespectful to colleagues. During meetings with enemies, it is forbidden to kill anyone. They say about the Italian mafia that even if families are at war with each other, they do not seek cruel reprisals against competitors and often sign peace agreements.

Italian mafia laws

Another law that the Italian mafia honors is family above all, no lies among their own. If a lie was uttered in response to a question, it was believed that the person had betrayed the family. The rule, of course, is not without meaning, because it made cooperation within the mafia safer. But not everyone adhered to it. And where a lot of money was spinning, betrayal was an almost obligatory attribute of a relationship.

Only the boss of the Italian mafia could allow members of his group (family) to rob, kill or loot. Visiting bars without an urgent need was not welcomed. After all, a drunk mafioso could blurt out too much about the family.

Vendetta: for the family

Vendetta is revenge for a transgression or betrayal. Each group had its own ritual, some of them are striking in their cruelty. It did not manifest itself in torture or terrible murder weapons, as a rule, the victim was killed quickly. But after death, they could do anything with the body of the offender. And they usually did.

It is curious that information about the laws of the mafia as a whole became public only in 2007, when the father of the Italian mafia, Salvatore La Piccola, fell into the hands of the police. Among the financial documents, the boss also found the charter of the family.

Italian mafia: names and surnames that went down in history

How not to remember which is associated with drug trafficking and a network of brothels? Or, for example, who had the nickname "Prime Minister"? Italian surnames Mafias are known all over the world. Especially after Hollywood filmed several stories about gangsters at once. It is not known which of the things shown on the big screens are true and which are fiction, but it is thanks to films that these days it has become almost possible to romanticize the image of the Italian mafia. By the way, the Italian mafia likes to give nicknames to all its members. Some choose their own. But the nickname is always associated with the history or character traits of the mafiosi.

The names of the Italian mafia are, as a rule, bosses who dominated the whole family, that is, they reached greatest success in this hard work. Most of the gangsters who did the dirty work, the stories are unknown. The Italian mafia exists to this day, although most Italians turn a blind eye to this. Fighting it now, when the twenty-first century is in the yard, is practically pointless. Sometimes the police still manage to catch " big fish'on the hook, but most mobsters die natural death in old age or killed by a gun in his youth.

New "star" among the mafiosi

The Italian mafia operates under cover of obscurity. Interesting Facts about her is a rarity, because the law enforcement agencies of Italy are already experiencing problems in order to learn at least something about the actions of the mafia. Sometimes they are lucky, and unexpected or even sensational information becomes public.

Despite the fact that most people, having heard the words "Italian mafia", remember the famous Cosa Nostra or, for example, the Camorra, the most influential and cruel clan is the 'Ndrangentha. Back in the fifties, the group expanded beyond its own area, but until recently remained in the shadow of its larger competitors. How it happened that 80% of the drug trafficking of the entire European Union was in the hands of the 'Ndrangenta - the gangsters themselves are also surprised. The Italian mafia "Ndrangenta" has an annual income of 53 billion.

There is a myth very popular among gangsters that the 'Ndrangentha has aristocratic roots. Allegedly, the syndicate was founded by the Spanish knights, who had the goal of avenging the honor of their sister. Legend has it that the knights punished the culprit, while they themselves were imprisoned for 30 years. They spent 29 years, 11 months and 29 days in it. One of the knights, once free, founded the mafia. Some continue the story with the assertion that the other two brothers are just the bosses of Cosa Nostra and Camorra. Everyone understands that this is just a legend, but it is a symbol of the fact that the Italian mafia appreciates and recognizes the connection between families and adheres to the rules.

mafia hierarchy

The most revered and authoritative title sounds something like "boss of all Bosses." It is known that at least one mafioso had such a title - his name was Matteo Denaro. The second in the hierarchy of the mafia is the title of "king - boss of all bosses." It is awarded to the boss of all families when he retires. This title does not carry privileges, it is a tribute. In third place is the title of the head of a single family - don. Don's first consultant, his right hand, bears the title of "adviser". He does not have the authority to influence the state of affairs, but the don listens to his opinion.

Next comes the deputy don - formally the second person in the group. In fact, he comes after the adviser. Kapo - a man of honor, or rather, the captain of such people. They are mafia soldiers. As a rule, one family has up to fifty soldiers.

And finally small man- last title. These people are not yet part of the mafia, but they want to become one, so they carry out small tasks for the family. Youths of honor are those who are friends for the mafia. For example, those who take bribes, dependent bankers, corrupt police officers and the like.

What does an Italian surname sound like? Many examples could be given. Alessandro Botticelli, Piero della Francesca, Domenico Ghirlandaio… These are the names of the great Renaissance artists living in Italy. Not only their paintings, but also their names are distinguished by their extraordinary beauty.

Italian Surnames - Origins of Italian Surnames

Most Italian surnames are historically derived from the name of the place of residence and birth of the person bearing the surname. From Vinci came famous family artist Leonardo da Vinci. This city is located in eastern Tuscany, which attracts with its unique landscapes. But during the life of the artist, oddly enough, only his name was mainly used. The sculptor Andrea Pisano was also very popular. His work connected with the decoration of the bronze southern door of the unique Florentine Baptistery is very famous. Initially, the sculptor was given the name Andrea da Pontedra. This was because he was born in the beautiful village of Pontedra, which was located next to the famous city of Pisa. Later this sculptor was called "Pisano". This city is famous for its Leaning Tower. There is one famous person Spain, which really bears the name of the city. This is Perugino or Perugia. The most common Italian surname is Lombardi. It comes from the name of the locality, the name of which coincides with the given surname. Ask any person the name of any creation of Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. You are unlikely to hear an intelligible answer. People know little about the creations of this man. And if you remember notable works, such as the Adoration of the Magi or the Birth of Venus, which are located in the Uffizi, it will bring to mind Botticelli. So, Botticelli is Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi. He got his surname from his older brother Giovane, who was a moneylender. The brother's name was Il Botticcello.

Italian Surnames - List of Italian Surnames

Another Florentine artist of the fifteenth century wears bright surname Giuliano Bugiardini. It translates to "little liar". It can be assumed that his family had the gift of beautiful speech. You can list many other beautiful Italian surnames. This is Torregrossa, which means "big tower", and Quattrochi - "four eyes", and Bella - "beautiful", and Bonmarito, which means "good husband". Most Italian surnames are closely related to the type of activity that a person was engaged in, trade. For example, Domenico Ghirlandaio, who was a Renaissance painter, was famous for his frescoes, when his ancestor was probably a gardener or a man selling all kinds of flowers. This conclusion can be drawn because the word ghirlanda in the name of the painter is translated as a garland or wreath.
Real name Andrea del Sarto, a Florentine painter famous for his frescoes, had the name Andrea d "Agnolo di Francesco. The nickname del sarto means tailor. It comes from the profession of the painter's father. Other examples of Italian surnames can be given, the origin of which is associated with the type of activity of the person wearing them. This is Contadino, which means "farmer", and Tagliabue - "butcher", and Auditore - "listener". Very often, painters left their last name. For example, Piero di Cosimo. He belonged to the Renaissance. The painter did not change his last name, since it belonged to his father. In translation, the surname means "son of Piero Cosimo. Pier dela Francesco had a surname that was formed from beautiful name his mother. Piero della Francesca means "son of Francesca". The painter is famous for his fresco, repeating the legend of the crucifixion of Christ. She appeared in Arezzo in the thirteenth century.

Italian Surnames - Meaning of Italian Surnames

Usually italian surnames originated from the geographic location of the person. They served as a description of human activity. You can focus your attention on another point: on the prevalence of a particular Italian surname. IN modern world the surname Esposito is very common. The surname is translated as "exposed" with Latin. It means "put outside". This Italian surname means an orphan. It is known from the history of Italy that abandoned children were mostly left in the nearest church. The name comes from here. There are several more examples of such surnames. These are Orfanelli, which means "little orphans", and Poverelli, which means "little poor people", and Trovato / Trovatelli - "found little foundling".
the best Italian surnames Rossi, Ferrari and Russo are considered. Then follow the names Esposito, Romano and Bianchi.
But among Italian surnames there are strange, completely atypical surnames. For example, one of the heads of state with the surname Aznar lives in Como. One Blair lives in Rome. In the Veneto region, one can often find the surname Putin, and Schroder filled all of Italy. 27 Italian municipalities have citizens with the surname Mann. One Hemingway resides in Milan and the other is registered in Perugia. Most often in Genoa and Milan, the surname Bush is found. Lewinsky lives in Riva del Garda. One citizen with the surname Washington lives in ten municipalities of modern Italy. The Italian surname Freud occurs in Brescia. Forty-five Italian citizens have the surname Jung. The surname Milano can be easily found in Milan, while in Genoa the surname Firenze is most common.
The 578 municipalities in Italy include Italian citizens who have the surname Paris. 322 municipalities of this country contain the surname Sofia, 84 - Malta, and 22 - Vienna. You may notice that in modern Italy there are many surnames atypical for this country, but it is most interesting to meet a person who is the bearer of an ancient Italian surname. Italian surnames are distinguished by their beauty. extraordinary pronunciation and rich history. Therefore, it is considered prestigious to wear just such a surname of Italian origin.

What associations do we have when we hear such names as, for example, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Christopher Columbus, Maria Medici, Adriano Celentano, Girdgio Armani, Gianni Versace? .. This list can be continued indefinitely, and we know that under all these names and surnames the famous recognized people of Italy are hiding. People who in many ways changed the world and ideas, gave it art and theories. But do we think at such moments about what these names really mean? For us, foreigners, they sound very melodic and poetic, beautiful and mysterious. Not at all the way we hear the names Kozlovsky, Sidorov, Dudko, Morozov, etc. Although, of course, no one denies that for foreigners they can also sound poetic. But each surname, like almost any word, has its own history, etymology, origin. And today, when we are all in a hurry somewhere, and on TV they show only about the stars of show business, it is very interesting.

The science that studies surnames and their origin is called onomastics and its subcategory anthroponymy. It is anthroponymy that we owe knowledge of the origin of names and surnames, and therefore, knowledge of how our ancestors lived, what they did, what they were, because we now bear their names.

A bit of history

Italians, as usual, did not always have surnames. The origin of surnames in the XIV is due to the great confusion of people associated with huge amount the same names. Population growth has made it clear that all the names for all people cannot be enough. Therefore, it became necessary to give a middle name, that is, a surname (as we see, even now there are dozens of people who have the same name and surname, and sometimes even a patronymic). The first surnames appeared in Venice. Then they spread throughout Italy and soon became the general norm for designating people. At birth, the child was given not only a name, but also a surname.

But how did people come up with them? Surnames were just taken from the air or did they have any meaning? Did people rack their brains, or did the ideas come to them immediately?

Etymology

The origin of Italian surnames has a very interesting basis. Many of the oldest Italian surnames are still carried by ordinary Italians. The understanding of etymology has long been erased, if the average Italian, of course, is not interested in anthroponymy. But often Italians know their own family tree and pass the knowledge on to their descendants. Italians are very patriotic and loyal to their homeland and its culture, so you are unlikely to find any manifestations of the cultures of other peoples there.

The main sources of origin of Italian surnames:

a) surnames that have stems from the names of fathers, sometimes mothers. We also have, for example, the surnames Ivanov, Petrov, that is, the one who belongs to Ivan, Peter. Only Italians will have such a surname consisting of two words, for example, Raffaello di Francesco, where Raffaello is the name, di is the word for "from", Francesco is the name of the father. Thus, it turned out literally: Raffaello from Francesco, which in rough translation can mean “Raffaello son of Francesco.” The word “di” is extremely common in Italian surnames, now we know why and what it means. Sometimes, in almost the same way, surnames were created that carried part of the father's name, and part of the grandfather's name.

b) surnames that have the basis of the name of professions. Even now, family workshops and small businesses are quite common among Italians. That is, only relatives of one family work there. It was the same way before, in ancient times. And people were assigned certain surnames that would characterize them according to their occupation. Just as we, for example, have the surnames Kuznetsov or Bondar, so the Italians have a surname, for example, Ghirlandaio, which means “dealing with wreaths”, that is, we can assume that this person is a gardener.

c) surnames that have the basis of the names of geographical places. It could be a place of residence, birth, craft, which the clan was engaged in. It can be the name of a city, village, river, valley, etc. We also have analogues of such surnames, for example, Alexander Nevsky. So among Italians at the moment the surname of Lombardy is very common, which came from the name quite famous city in Italy.

d) surnames that have stems from words that describe certain concepts, phenomena, characters, features of the person who was endowed with it. Well, for example, we have the surnames Usov, Bolshov, Handsome, etc. In the same way, the Italians were given surnames according to some specific characteristics. For example, Paolo Carino - Paolo the Dear, or Antonio Gobbo - Antonio the Hunchbacked. Some of these surnames could change: mix with others, receive other suffixes and prefixes.

e) surnames that were given to children without parents, foundlings. The most common surname in this category is Esposito, which literally translates as "abandoned". We also have an analogue of such surnames, however, there are very few of them, for example, Nameless.

Thus, having studied the etymology of surnames, one can even trace what the ancestors were like, where they came from and what they did. Or maybe they were all foundlings and orphans.

But the carriers of etymology are not only the bases of surnames, but also prefixes and suffixes.

Suffixes:

a) diminutives: -illo, -etti, -ini, -ino. They are all designed to downplay the foundation.

b) exaggerating: -acchio, -uchchi.

Prefixes (prepositions):

a) to denote belonging to the clan, the father, the word di is used, as already mentioned.

b) the preposition yes is sometimes used to indicate belonging to a certain area. It's impossible not to remember the famous Leonardo da Vinci.

c) to refer to people from other countries, the prepositions lo and la are used.

When people realized what a variety of surnames and nicknames can be given to people, while modifying them in different ways, they reduced the number of names. Therefore, when we hear about Italians, first of all we hear such names as Francesco, Alberto, Antonio, Bernardo, Maria, Anna, Angelo, Paolo, Michelle, Bruno, Rosa, Teresa, Laura. The Italians do not claim to have a wealth of names, they are satisfied with the minimum that exists, but they can boast of a variety of surnames.

One of the most famous Italians in Russia is the architect Aristotle Fioravanti, who built the Assumption Cathedral, the brick factory and the Cannon Yard in Moscow. Perhaps the name Fryanovo is connected with it. And, accordingly, the name Fryanov.

Another famous Italian architect was Pietro Antonio Solari. From 1490 to 1493 he supervised the construction of the walls, towers and other buildings of the Kremlin. The surname Solari in Russia was transformed into Solarev.

The surname Chicherin is well known in Russia. Revolutionary Georgy Chicherin from 1918 to 1923 served as Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. Founder noble family Chicherins was the interpreter (translator) Afanasy Chicherini, who arrived in Rus' in the retinue of the Byzantine princess and future Grand Duchess Sophia Paleolog. Chicherini, by the way, is one of the ancestors of A.S. Pushkin. And "the cunning Fryazhsky husband Zakhar Tutchev" is related to the genealogy of another Russian poet, Fyodor Tyutchev.

The Italian surname Rossi is also associated with Russia. The largest architect of the Russian Empire Carlo Rossi (1775-1849), the son of an Italian ballerina, was born in St. Petersburg, although architectural art studied in Italy. He is the author of many projects, including the three front squares of St. Petersburg - Palace, Admiralteyskaya and Senatskaya. However, the surname Rossi is still Italian and, by the way, means "Red".

The surname Pikuza appeared in Russia after Patriotic War 1812. In fact, this is a Russified version of the surname Pikuzo. It was worn by Italian gypsies, whose descendants now live in the south of Russia, in particular, in the Krasnodar Territory.