Italian Surname Endings and the Regions They Point To

Sharing is caring!

Short answer: the last letters of an Italian surname are a clue to the part of Italy it grew up in, not proof. An ending in -is is common in Sardinia, -in and -èl in Veneto and Friuli, -ello and -ella in the south. The same ending turns up in several regions, so use it to decide where to look in the records, then let the records answer.

This page is part of our guide Italian Surnames and Where Your Family Came From. Everything below comes from the linguists at the Treccani encyclopedia (named in the sources at the end). We say “often found in” on purpose: an ending is a clue to check in the records, never proof that your family came from a particular place.

Why so many Italian surnames end in -i

Carla Marcato, writing in Treccani’s Enciclopedia dell’Italiano, explains that surnames in -i are mostly plurals. The relatives of a man called Fabbro (smith) were “i Fabbri”, so Pietro Fabbri was “Pietro dei Fabbri”, Pietro of the Fabbri family. Rossi, Bianchi and Ferrari work the same way.

Marcato also notes where each vowel is more common. Endings in -i are widespread in the north, especially Emilia-Romagna, Trentino and Lombardy, and even more in central Italy, above all Tuscany. Endings in -o are more frequent in the south, though they win out over -i in Piedmont and Liguria too. So Russo and Rosso are the same name in different places.

Endings often found in the north

• -in (no final vowel): very common in Veneto (Visentin, Bertin). Also found in Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Zanin, Martin) and Trentino (Trentin, Nardin).
• -èl: Veneto (Carniel, Battistel, Vettorel) and Friuli (Cargnel, Tonel).
• -is in Friuli and Veneto: a form of an old suffix, usually attached to a first name (Agostinis, Bernardis, Domenis, Furlanis).
• -is in Bergamo: Cortinovis, Maffeis and Bolis are almost exclusive to that province, and Treccani says their origin is uncertain.

Endings often found in Tuscany and central Italy

• -ini and -cini: -ino is found across Italy, but the centre and north favour it in the plural, as in Bandini and Bernini. -cini is typical of the north and centre, especially Tuscany (Baroncini, Leoncini).
• -ellis: found in the centre and south, with or without de (De Lellis, Masellis).

Endings often found in the south and Sicily

• -ino: regional forms include Sannino in Campania, Mannino in Sicily and Musolino in Calabria.
• -ello and -ella: -ello is spread everywhere (Rizzello in Puglia, Parrinello in Sicily, Vianello in Veneto). -ella mostly belongs to the south: Langella and Pezzella in Campania, Colella and Milella in Puglia, Moschella in Sicily, Pacella and Petrella in Abruzzo.
• -is with de: in Abruzzo, Molise, Campania and Puglia, De Santis, De Angelis, De Matteis and De Filippis come from a Latin form used by notaries, mostly adopted between the Renaissance and the 19th century. Puglia also has Lippolis and Miccolis, without the de.

Endings often found in Sardinia

• -is: here the final s is simply a plural marker, as in Melis, Floris, Fois, Salis, Farris and Pitzalis.
• -eddu and -éllu: Nieddu and Fancellu.
• -inu: uncommon names such as Baldinu and Musinu.

What to do with the clue

Treat the ending as a reason to look in one region first, and then look for proof. A surname such as De Santis or Ferraris appears in several regions, and an ending can travel with a family. Your next steps are the family’s own papers, the town named in US records, and then Italy’s civil records. The free Antenati portal is where Italy’s state archives publish them. Our guide to reading Italian civil records shows what you will find.

If the records lead to a town, you may also want to know what citizenship by descent involves. The free guide above covers it, with the official pages named.

Sources

• Treccani, “Cognomi” (Enciclopedia dell’Italiano), Carla Marcato
• Treccani, “Suffissi e terminazioni dei cognomi italiani”, Enzo Caffarelli
• Treccani, “I cognomi italiani uscenti in -is”
• Background reference: Caffarelli and Marcato, I cognomi d’Italia. Dizionario storico ed etimologico (UTET, 2008).

Checked November 2026.

Sharing is caring!