Sicilian nicknames and their importance in the Sicily of the past

In this article we talk about a custom that certainly is not exclusively typical of our beautiful Sicily, but not for this is not an interesting topic! We are sure that all of you, especially in the family, are called with a nickname to which we remain irremediably linked! It is undeniable that in many cases, very often, we do not like them at all. But many other times they are nice nicknames that we carry with us for life, with so much pride!
We have tried to group together some of the most interesting (and why not, funny!) nicknames from the old Sicilian times: some of these may have fallen into disuse and generally people talk about Sicilian nicknames as something outdated, some kind of an ancient custom but they couldn’t be more wrong! In the ancient Sicilian tradition, nicknames were called “li ngiurii” (or also ‘nciurie) in the Sicilian language. In the past, very often they derived from a physical characteristic (maybe they reminded of some animals!), or from a person’s place of origin or from his job, or even from an attitude. Especially in the past, these so-called ‘nciurie represented a way to immediately recognize someone, even better than name and surname.
Our Sicilian nicknames collection
- Peri peri (that goes “piedi piedi” – feet feet, that is always around).
- Test’i lignu (wooden head).
- Menzu jitu (half finger).
- Tinagghia (miser).
- Mustazzu (moustache).
- Azzusaru (seller of soft drinks).
- Facc’i trippa (face of tripe).
- Facc’i cavaddu (horse face).
- Panzazza (with a protruding belly).
- Orbu (blind man).
- Facc’i pichira (face of ray fish).
- Stuppacannola (plumber).
- Funcitta (small lips).
- Nasuni (long, arched nose).
- Mammana (midwife).
- Funcia (big, protruding lips).
- Pagghiolu (big rambling man).
- Annaca li Rocchi (swinging the stones – mason).
- Babbaluciaru (seller of snails).
- Lordu (filty)
And what about you? Do you remember any other nickname? Let us know in the comments!
All my relatives called me Cheech
Does anyone know what the English translation of the nickname or alias
of SCUPILLA is?
My grandfather had a friend everybody called cacca fetu
My dad’s family nickname was Dommini. No idea why. When I went into the village to buy something with my aunt, I was asked who daughter I was, when I answered with Dad’s name and surname, I got a blank look. When my aunt said Alfio Dommini then the shop keeper got very excited and ask me to say hello to my Dad and tell him to pop in to visit.
Lu calglatu my great grandfather would carry in his pocket roasted fava beans to give to the kids
Medzu panne
When I was growing up my dad would lovingly call me Facci Brute ( I’m not sure of the correct spelling but you get the idea) and then when my beautiful daughter was born the nickname went to her.
My Dad called me that too! Literally ugly face! Lovingly, of course. He would also call me Cuolo Grosso (fat bottom), lovingly of course and then ultimately, Facia Bella, beautiful face!😎
In our town of castellamare del golfo or where my father is from vita the people of the town didn’t know any last names they knew each other by injuria which means nicknames my mothers nickname in castellamare was cardida which means roster and my dad was craparo which means goat herder so if you went into any of these towns any you would ask where this person lives by his first and last name they didn’t know but if you ask by there nickname they knew
A word used by my family and friends was Mamaluke it was used in a derogatory way that I took to mean stupid or ugly. When I asked some of the old timers what it meant they said an ugly fish that lives in the oceans surrounding Sicily! Can anyone verify that ?
It’s probably bc mamlukes were white slaves that were brought to the Middle East/Mediterranean
Porcu Incinta (pregnant pig) was the worst one I ever heard. He was a friend of my dads back in his small town in Sicily.