Sicily’s surnames are living history. Every time you hear a name like Russo, Caruso or Balistreri, you are hearing an echo of the civilisations that shaped this island over three millennia: the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Spanish. In a single family name, centuries of conquest, trade, and survival are compressed into a handful of syllables.
In this guide we explore the 25 most common Sicilian surnames, their meanings, their cultural roots, and which provinces you are most likely to encounter them in. Whether you are tracing your own heritage, planning a trip to Sicily, or simply curious about the island’s extraordinary history, these names tell the full story.
Origin & Classification
What makes Sicilian surnames unique?
Unlike surnames in many other Italian regions, Sicilian family names are a remarkable patchwork of languages. Sicily was ruled, and therefore named, by an extraordinary succession of peoples. Each left their mark in the onomastic record.
Historical Context
The cultural roots of Sicilian surnames
The etymology of Sicilian surnames mirrors every wave of conquest and settlement the island experienced. Six civilisations left their mark, not just in cuisine and architecture, but in the names families still carry today.
Every Sicilian surname is a fragment of the island’s history: Arabic rhythms in a Norman name, Greek roots in a Latin word, the memory of a trade that vanished centuries ago.
Quick Reference
The 25 most common Sicilian surnames at a glance
Use the table below for a quick overview, then scroll down for the full story behind each name.
| # | Surname | Meaning | Root | Province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russo | Red/auburn hair | Latin | Palermo, Catania |
| 2 | Messina | From the city of Messina | Toponymic | Messina |
| 3 | Caruso | Boy / young apprentice | Sicilian | Catania, Caltanissetta |
| 4 | Lombardo | Long beard / Lombard | Germanic | Widespread |
| 5 | Marino | Of the sea | Latin | Palermo, Messina |
| 6 | Rizzo | Curly-haired | Latin | Trapani, Messina |
| 7 | Romano | From Rome / Roman descent | Toponymic | Trapani, Siracusa |
| 8 | Greco | Greek | Greek | Widespread |
| 9 | Ferraro | Blacksmith | Latin | Palermo, Agrigento |
| 10 | Bruno | Dark complexion | Germanic | Palermo, Catania |
| 11 | Giuffrida | Son of Godfrey | Norman | Catania, Messina |
| 12 | Grasso | Stout / fat | Latin | Catania, Palermo |
| 13 | Di Stefano | Son of Stefano | Greek | Widespread |
| 14 | Orlando | Famous land (Roland) | Norman | Palermo, Messina |
| 15 | Vitale | Full of life | Latin | Widespread |
| 16 | Pappalardo | Lard-eater (greedy) | Sicilian | Catania, Messina |
| 17 | Mancuso | Left-handed | Latin | Palermo, Agrigento |
| 18 | Balistreri | Crossbowman | Arab-Sicilian | Palermo, Trapani |
| 19 | Finocchiaro | Fennel farmer/seller | Latin | Catania, Ragusa |
| 20 | Bongiorno | Good morning | Medieval | Messina, Catania |
| 21 | Catalano | From Catalonia | Spanish | Widespread |
| 22 | Puglisi | From Puglia | Toponymic | Catania, Siracusa |
| 23 | Quattrocchi | Four eyes (glasses) | Sicilian | Messina, Catania |
| 24 | Trovato | Found (foundling) | Foundling | Catania, Palermo |
| 25 | Gambino | Leg / distinctive gait | Latin | Trapani, Palermo |
Detailed Guide
Every surname: the full story
Behind each surname is a world of history, dialect, and human character. Here is what every name really means.
From the Latin russus: a nickname for someone with red or auburn hair. The Sicilian equivalent of Rossi in northern Italy. The single most common surname on the island.
The family came from, or was associated with, the city of Messina in northeastern Sicily. The city’s name may derive from the Greek Zancle — sickle-shaped harbour.
From the Sicilian carusu: ‘boy’ or ‘young apprentice’. The carusi were the child workers of the sulphur mines of Agrigento and Caltanissetta. The tenor Enrico Caruso made this surname world-famous.
From the medieval Germanic Langobardus: ‘long beard’, the name of the Lombard people who ruled much of Italy after the fall of Rome. Used as both an ethnic marker and a nickname.
From the Roman cognomen Marinus, from the Latin marinus: ‘of the sea’. Given Sicily’s geography, perhaps the most fitting Sicilian surname of all. Also the patron saint of San Marino.
From the Latin rictius: ‘curly’. A nickname for someone with curly or frizzy hair. The same root gives riccio in modern Italian (hedgehog, or a curl of hair). Common across Sicily and southern Calabria.
From Rome, or of Roman descent. In the medieval period, Romano could indicate a person with Roman legal status. Found widely across Sicily, strongest in Trapani and Siracusa.
Simply, ‘Greek’. Sicily’s Greek heritage runs extraordinarily deep — colonised from the 8th century BC, home to cities as powerful as Syracuse and Agrigento. The Byzantine period reinforced Greek culture before the Arab conquest.
From the Latin ferrarius: blacksmith or ironworker. Variants — Ferraro, Ferrari, Ferrara, Ferrante — are among the most common surnames across all of southern Italy.
From the Germanic brun: dark or brown. A nickname for dark hair or complexion, introduced by Germanic peoples — Goths, Lombards, Normans. One of the most common surnames across all of southern Italy.
A patronymic from the Norman-Germanic Goffredo (Godfrey, ‘God’s peace’). The Normans who conquered Sicily in the 11th century brought this name; it naturalised as Giuffrida. Concentrated in the Norman heartland of eastern Sicily.
From the Latin crassus: ‘fat’ or ‘stout’. In medieval usage, body weight often indicated prosperity, so the nickname was not necessarily derogatory. Most common in Catania.
‘Son of Stefano (Stephen)’. Derives from the Greek Stephanos (‘crown’). The Di- prefix is a distinctively southern Italian construction, equivalent to the Irish O’ or Scottish Mac.
From the Norman-Germanic Roland: ‘famous land’. Roland was the legendary paladin of Charlemagne, immortalised in the Chanson de Roland and Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso.
From the Latin Vitalis: ‘full of life’ or ‘vital’. A popular given name in the early Christian period, carried by several saints. Found throughout Sicily, Calabria and Campania.
From the Sicilian pappalardo: literally ‘lard-eater’. A nickname for someone greedy or gluttonous. One of Sicily’s most colourful surnames, very Sicilian in both sound and spirit.
From the Latin mancus: ‘deficient’, and the Italian mancino (‘left-handed’). In medieval Italy, left-handedness was viewed with suspicion. A family nickname that stuck across generations.
The Sicilian balistreri means crossbowman or crossbow maker. The crossbow arrived in Sicily during the Arab period and remained militarily important through the Norman era. One of the most distinctively Sicilian occupational surnames.
From finocchio: fennel. The Finocchiaro family were fennel farmers or sellers. Wild fennel is one of the defining flavours of Sicilian cuisine, used in pasta con le sarde, sausages, and breads.
From the medieval greeting buon giorno: ‘good morning’. These blessing-surnames reflect a medieval practice of giving children names that expressed gratitude or hope. TV personality Mike Bongiorno made this name internationally recognised.
From Catalonia. Sicily was ruled by the Aragonese-Catalan Crown from 1282 to 1816, the longest period of foreign rule in Sicilian history. Many Catalan settlers arrived during this period, and their descendants kept this toponymic surname.
‘From Puglia’. The suffix -isi is a common Sicilian adjectival form. The surname records migration from the neighbouring region across the Strait of Messina.
Quattrocchi means ‘four eyes’: a nickname for someone who wore spectacles. A fine example of the Sicilian genius for irreverent physical description.
Trovato means ‘found’: given to abandoned children whose parents were unknown. Other foundling surnames include Di Dio, Incognito, D’Ignoto. Their prevalence reflects the extreme poverty of Sicily for centuries.
From the Italian gamba (‘leg’): a nickname for someone with notable legs or a distinctive gait. A surname that gained notoriety through the American Mafia, though the overwhelming majority of Gambinos have no such connections.
Geography
Sicilian surnames by province
Where you find a surname can tell you as much as the name itself. Here is a guide to which surnames dominate in each of Sicily’s nine provinces.
| Province | Most characteristic surnames |
|---|---|
| Palermo | Ferrante, Giordano, Marino, Mancuso, Orlando, Catalano, Gambino |
| Catania | Giuffrida, Grasso, Caruso, Puglisi, Finocchiaro, Di Stefano, Bruno |
| Trapani | Rizzo, Romano, Gambino, Balistreri, Catalano |
| Messina | Messina, Bongiorno, Quattrocchi, Rizzo, Giuffrida |
| Agrigento | Mancuso, Ferraro, Bruno, Vitale |
| Siracusa | Romano, Puglisi, Vitale, Lombardo |
| Ragusa | Finocchiaro, Vitale, Di Stefano |
| Caltanissetta | Caruso, Russo, Lombardo |
| Enna | Trovato, Di Stefano (matronymic surnames also common here) |
Did you know?
The prefix Di- in surnames like Di Stefano and Di Mauro means ‘son of’: it is the southern Italian equivalent of the Irish O’ or the Scottish Mac. Sicily also has uniquely Sicilian prefixes — In-, Inter-, Intra- (as in Ingrassia, Interbartolo) — that indicate membership in a family. You will not find these in any other Italian region.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your questions about Sicilian surnames answered
What is the most common surname in Sicily?
Russo is the single most common surname in Sicily, followed by Messina, Caruso and Lombardo. Russo (meaning ‘red-haired’) is also one of the most common surnames across all of southern Italy, where it performs the same role as Rossi in the north.
Why do some Sicilian surnames sound Arabic?
Sicily was under Arab rule from 831 to 1091 AD: over 250 years. This left a profound mark on the Sicilian language, cuisine, and onomastics. Surnames like Balistreri reflect Arabic influence through the crossbow technology introduced by Arab soldiers. The distinctive Sicilian prefixes In-, Inter-, and Intra- may also carry Arabic traces, and many place names that became surnames originated in Arabic.
What Sicilian surnames are most common in America?
Caruso, Lombardo, Russo, Greco, Marino and Romano are among the most common Sicilian-origin surnames in the United States. Many were altered at Ellis Island: Giuffrida might become Jeffrey, Quattrocchi might become Quattrocky. We explore this in our companion post on Sicilian-American surnames.
What does the Di- prefix mean in Sicilian surnames?
Di means ‘of’ or ‘son of’: it is the patronymic equivalent of the Irish O’ or Scottish Mac. Di Stefano means ‘son of Stefano’, Di Mauro means ‘son of Mauro’. It is one of the most distinctively southern Italian constructions, and particularly common in Sicily.
Are there surnames that were given to foundlings?
Yes, and they are among the most historically significant Sicilian surnames. Trovato (‘found’), Di Dio (‘of God’), Incognito (‘unknown’) and D’Ignoto (‘of the unknown’) were given to abandoned children whose parents could not be identified. Their frequency in certain areas of Sicily reflects the extreme poverty of the 18th and 19th centuries.
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My maiden name is Amodeo and my grandparents were from Termini Imerese.
Oh my gosh, SAME! I went to see family in Termini in 2019, my cousin just went this year in 2024!
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Carpei Diem Michael. Familia is like the wind, it is but a vapor. Seize the day my brother. Make haste! The only thing we have to fear is fear of finding out that we are not related, but that does not mean you can not make friends. The bond of a friend is a commonality, and the name from which you originate is the same of those in Racalmuto. God is the ultimate Father so, do not let pride, prejudice or anything negative to block your quest for a positive relationship with your kin. Famiglia o per, siamo tutti figli di Dio. Vivere con successo pisano. Ciao, Gilancarlo Family, Anaheim, Ca July 3, 2025 (Two Years After This Posting, Hope You Made The Trip). Please post your findings.
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LoGiudice here
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