ab Aqua | locative, Latin 'from the water'; perhaps for the Italian Dell'Acqua |
Adoldo | |
Alberti | patronymic, from Alberto |
Alberto | patronymic |
Aliprando | patronymic |
Angelo | patronymic |
Antelini | probably patronymic. There is a place Antella in Tuscany, but it's not a likely source for this name. |
Antonio | patronymic |
Badoer | McKee has three instances of a surname Baduario, two of them dukes of Crete. |
Balbi | patronymic |
Barbarigo | probably patronymic from a diminutive of Barbaro [De Felice, Cognomi]. On the other hand, Fucilla suggests it is a place name. The -igo suffix is typically Venetian. |
Barbaro | patronymic |
Barberigo | cf. Barbarigo. |
Barbo | descriptive, origin uncertain. Fucilla, p.51, suggests that the most common origin is a northern word for 'uncle', but notes that it could also derive from barba 'beard' or or balbo 'stutterer'. McKee has Barbo as both a given name and byname. |
Barozzi | patronymic, or possibly metonymic. De Felice derives it from the given name Baro via the diminutive Barozzo. Fucilla suggests a derivation from a northern word for 'cart'. |
Baseggio | patronymic from a Venetian diminutive of Basile |
Basilio | patronymic |
Bedheloto | |
Bembo | |
Berberio | perhaps patronymic from another variant of Barbaro |
Bertaldo | patronymic. McKee has Bertoldus |
Boccassio | patronymic from a diminutive of Bocca. McKee has Bocasso. |
Boccono | patronymic from a diminutive of Bocca |
Boldù | |
Bollani | possibly patronymic from Iacobollo |
Bon | patronymic from a Venetian form of Bono |
Bondemiro | probably patronymic |
Bonifati | patronymic from Bonifacio |
Bono | patronymic |
Bragadin | patronymic; McKee has the given name Bragadino. |
Bredani | probably locative from breda 'grassy field' |
Buscharino | locative or descriptive from busco, a variant of bosco 'woods'; hence 'rustic'. |
Buticularo | occupational, 'butler', from Latin buticularius [5]. McKee has buticlarius and butiglarius. |
Calderario | occupational, 'cauldron-maker'. McKee has Calderero. |
Cancharello | occupational, 'chancellor'. McKee has cancellarius and Çancarolo, Çancharole. |
Caotorta | |
Cappello | metonymic, 'hat' |
Caravello | descriptive, from a word meaning 'brain'. Often used for a foolish or thoughtless person, according to Fucilla, p.179. Apparently a common Venetian surname, judging from McKee. |
Caresini | There is a place Caresana in Piedmont, but it is not obviously the source of this surname. |
Caroldo | |
Carrara | locative, from a village near Padua. The surname was borne by the lords of Padua in the 14th century. |
Celsi | |
Chavalerio | occupational or descriptive, 'knight, horseman' |
Chodeschino | possibly a descriptive analogous to Cobiancho 'white head' or Codagnello 'sheep's head'. |
Cimator | occupational, 'cloth-shearer' [3]. |
Cocco | patronymic, Cocco is a pet form of Francesco via Francescoccio |
Collegario | apparently occupational, perhaps from Italian collegare 'bind, connect, unite', or Latin collegar 'bandage'. |
Contarini | locative, from Contarina, 25 miles S of Venice |
Corner | perhaps occupational from corno 'horn'. Judging from McKee's listing, this was a common Venetian surname. She has it also as Cornario. |
Correr | perhaps occupational from a form of corriero 'runner, courier' |
d'Armano | patronymic |
d'Artusio | patronymic; Artusio is an Italian form of Arthur |
D'Este | locative 'from Este'. The name of an important Venetian family. |
da Barleto | locative. |
da Bologna | locative. Bologna is about 90 miles SSW of Venice. |
da Brabante | locative. Probably based on the province of Brabant in the Low Countries. |
da Canal | locative, 'from the canal'. The second most common surname in Venice. |
da Carrara | See Carrara above. |
da Cernia | locative, probably based on some Slovenian or Croatian placename. De Felice, Cognomi, s.n. Cerne, derives that surname from Slovene {c^}rn or Croat crn or crnac 'black'. |
da Chioggia | locative, from a seaport on an Island in the Venetian lagoon. |
da Cimento | locative |
da Cola | apparently locative |
da Ferrara | locative. Ferrara is 50 miles SSW of Venice. |
da Firenze | locative, 'from Florence'. |
da Forli | locative. Forli is 80 miles S of Venice. |
da Frixaturo | locative |
da Lucca | locative. Lucca is 40 miles W of Florence |
da Milano | locative, 'from Milan'. |
da Molin | locative, 'from the mill' or from a place called Molin |
da Monte | locative, 'from the hill, mountain'. |
da Mosto | locative. There is a modern Torre di Mosto near Venice. |
da Munego | locative. McKee has Munega. |
da Mutina | locative. Mutina is an older form of Modena, which is in Emilia-Romagna, about 80 miles SW of Venice [Getty Thesaurus] |
da Negroponte | locative. Negroponte is an Italian name for the island of Evvoia, Greece [Getty Thesaurus] |
da Padova | locative. Padova or Padua is 30 miles W of Venice. |
da Parma | locative. Parma is 110 WSW of Venice. |
da Peraga | locative. There are several places Peregallo, Peragal, etc. in Lombardy, Piedmont, and Liguria. |
Da Polenta | locative. Fucilla mentions such a place. |
da Quaterno | locative |
da Raguso | locative. Ragusa is the Italian name for Dubrovnic in Croatia. |
da Riva | locative, 'from the shore, bank'. There are several Italian places of this name. |
da Sabardia | locative |
da Segna | locative. Segna is an Italian name for Senj, Croatia, about 115 ESE of Venice [Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names] |
da Treviso | locative. Treviso is a city 20 miles NNW of Venice. McKee has Trevisano, Trivisano, Trivixano, Trivisio, Trivixio. |
da Valaseno | locative |
da Vale | locative, 'from the valley' |
da Venzone | locative. Venzone is in Udine, about 60 miles NNE of Venice. |
Da Verardo | apparently locative |
da Verardo | |
da Verona | locative. Verona is 60 miles W of Venice. |
da Vicenza | locative. Vicenza is 40 miles W of Venice. |
da Vigonovo | locative. Vigonovo is 10 miles W of Venice. |
da Ziliolo | apparently locative |
Dal Sol | locative, perhaps 'from the clearing' |
Dalioto | |
dalla Stava | locative |
dalle Boccole | locative. Literally 'from the buckles or ear-rings'; possibly for a man who lives near a buckle-maker. |
Damiani | patronymic |
Dandolo | One instance recorded in the 16th century |
Darmo | |
de Buora | probably patronymic |
de Mezzo | probably patronymic, perhaps from a pet form of a name like Bartolomeo via Meo [De Felice Cognomi s.n. Meo] |
della Cava | locative, 'from the quarry'. |
Della Scalla | locative, 'from the staircase or terrace'. The surname of the rulers of Verona through most of the 14th century. |
Dente | descriptive, 'tooth' |
Desiderato | patronymic |
di Leonardo | patronymic |
Di Pigli | perhaps a patronymic based on an occupational. di is normally combined with a given name to create a patronymic. Pigli might derive from a verb that means 'take, catch, seize'. |
Dolfin | patronymic, from a pet form of some name like Adolfo, Gandolfo, etc. |
Donà | patronymic, from a Venetian form of Donato |
Doro | patronymic, from a pet form of Teodoro, Isidoro, Polidoro, etc. |
Duodo | |
Emo | patronymic, from a pet form of Ademaro via Ademo |
Enzignerio | apparently occupational |
Faber | occupational, 'smith'. Possibly Latin. The Venetian form may have been Fabri, Fabris, Favri, Favro, etc. |
Falier | apparently occupational. Marin Falier was doge 1354-55 [4]. |
Famizi | |
Fanutio | probably patronymic, from a diminutive of Fano or Fanio, pet forms of Stefano, Epifano, or some similar name. |
Felone | |
Foscari | patronymic, from Fosco. Borne by an important Venetian family from the 11th century. |
Francesco | patronymic |
Furlano | ethnic, from the Venetian word for 'person from Friuli' |
Galinarion | occupational or descriptive. Gallinaro is a dialect word for 'chicken'. The final n marks this as a Venetian form. |
Gamba | descriptive, 'leg'; possibly patronymic |
Gardesano | |
Garzone | possibly patronymic from an augmentative form of Garzia |
Girardo | patronymic |
Giustinian | patronymic. The final n marks this a Venetian form. |
Gonzago | perhaps locative from the village of Gonzaga, between Mantua and Reggio. |
Gradenigo | locative [Fucilla, p.31]. In the form Gradonico, it is quite common in McKee. |
Graffaro | probably occupational 'registrar', from Latin grapharius [5] |
Grassi | descriptive, 'fat, stout' |
Greco | ethnic, 'Greek', used literally but also figuratively for someone from Naples or a Greek-speaking area, and also to mean 'clever', 'insincere', or 'deceitful'. |
Grissoni | descriptive, from a Friuliano word for 'louse' or from a word for 'grey'; but possibly locative from Grisan in Switzerland |
Gritti | |
Karelo | possibly patronymic from Domenicarelli |
Loredan | possibly locative, from Loreo, 20 miles S of Venice. The final n marks this as a typical Venetian name. Pietro Loredan was a 15th century Venetian nobleman and admiral [4]. |
Malipiero | patronymic. The name is a compound of Marini and Piero, with the r shifting to l [De Felice Cognomi s.n. Marini] |
Marano | perhaps locative from the Friuliano Maran 'town square' or from the village of Marano on one of the Venetian islands [4]; but perhaps also ethnic for a Jew. |
Marcella | metronymic |
Marcello | patronymic |
Mare | perhaps locative 'sea' |
Marino | patronymic |
Marmagna | |
Memo | patronymic, from a Venetian pet form of Guglielmo |
Menegi | patronymic, from a Venetian pet form of Domenico |
Michiel | patronymic, from a Venetian pet form of Michele. The Michiel family was one of the major families of Venice. |
Minorita | |
Mocenigo | locative [Fucilla, p.31]. Tommaso Mocenigo was an admiral in the late 14th century and doge in the early 15th [4]. |
Molin | locative, from a Venetian word for 'mill' |
Moro | patronymic |
Morosini | patronymic. The name Morosino Morosini is in our data. The name was borne by a noble family that provided four doges [4]. |
Mudazzo | |
Muxe | possibly patronymic from a variant of Muzo, a pet form of Giacomo via Giacomuzzo |
Nani | patronymic, from a pet form of Giovanni; or descriptive from nano 'dwarf'. |
Natale | patronymic |
Paolo | patronymic |
Papacizza | probably patronymic, either from a diminutive form of Papa or from a pet form of Iacopo via Papo. |
Paradiso | probably patronymic |
Pasqualigo | patronymic, from a Venetian form of Pasquale. A common surname in McKee. |
Paxe | patronymic, from a northern form of Pace |
Petri | patronymic |
Pisani | ethnic, from Pisano 'man from Pisa' |
Polani | possibly locative, from Polana Maggiore, 30 miles W of Venice, or more likely from Pola or Pula, a Croatian port ruled by Venice [4]. |
Premarin | descriptive or perhaps patronymic derived from a descriptive. Fucilla, p.62, says this is a typically Venetian compound Pre + Marin 'Father Marin'. This sort of nickname could have been given to a man who behaved like a priest -- or just the opposite! |
Priuli | descriptive, from a Venetian word for 'prior' |
Purus | |
Querini | perhaps locative from Quero, a place not far from Venice. The Querini brothers took part in a failed conspiracy against the Venetian government in 1310 [4]. McKee has Quirino, Quirin. |
Rambaldo | patronymic |
Rizo | descriptive, a variant of Rizzo 'curly-haired' |
Rosso | patronymic form the given name Rosso, or descriptive from rosso 'red' |
Sanuto | descriptive from a Venetian form of zanna 'fang, tusk' |
Sartor | occupational, 'tailor'. |
Sartore | occupational, from a word for 'tailor' |
Scrovegni | |
Simoneti | patronymic, from a diminutive of Simone |
Solario | Locative of uncertain origin. Possibly from one of several places Solaro, or from words meaning 'an open field exposed to the sun' or 'house with an attic'. |
Solsa | |
Soranzo | descriptive or patronymic, a shortened form of Superanzo or Superancio 'excellent, superabundant', also used as a given name. |
Sorto | perhaps descriptive, related to sordo 'deaf' |
Sourosin | |
Spira | |
Stornado | probably descriptive, perhaps related to Stornello, below. |
Stornello | descriptive, from a form of storno 'starling' |
Taiapetra | a form of Ta(g)liapietra, literally 'cut stone', for a stonecutter or sculptor [Fucilla, p.56]. |
Tansuro | |
Tanto | |
Tartare | ethnic or descriptive, 'Eastern European', 'non-Christian', 'non-European', hence 'barbarian'. |
Thadei | patronymic |
Tiepolo | Baiamonte Tiepolo took part in a failed conspiracy against the Venetian government in 1310 [4]. |
Tomado | patronymic, from a form of Tommaso |
Torta | descriptive, 'crooked, twisted, squinting, bowlegged' |
Trentavasi | |
Trevisan | locative, from Treviso, a city 20 miles NNW of Venice. |
Tuloni, Tulon | |
Turri | locative, from torre 'tower'. Possibly also patronymic form a pet form of Salvatore or Bonaventura. |
Utino | perhaps patronymic from a pet form of Benvenuto |
Vendelino | |
Venier | patronymic from a Venetian form of Venerio. One of Venice's important noble families bore this surname from the 11th century. |
Viadro | |
Vidal | patronymic. This derivative of Latin Vitellus is more common in southern France than Italy. |
Viscia | perhaps descriptive from visco 'bishop' |
Visconti | descriptiove from visconte 'viscount'. Our example, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, was Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia. |
Vitturi | probably patronymic from Vittorio |
Volpe | descriptive or patronymic, from volpe 'fox' or from the given name Volpe |
Zafoni | |
Zancani | descriptive, probably from the Venetian zanca 'crooked, deformed'; but perhaps zanca 'leg', or zanco 'left-handed'. |
Zane | patronymic, from a a Venetian form of Gianni, a pet form of Giovanni |
Zen | patronymic, from a Venetian shortening of Zeno |
Zeno | patronymic |
Zentil | patronymic, from a Venetian form of Gentile |
Zorzi | patronymic, from a Venetian form of Giorgio |
Zusto | patronymic, from a Venetian form of Giusto |
Published by Arval Benicoeur
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