Surnames Di Giovanni, Della Giovanna, Giannelli, Giannoli and more

A large part of Italian surnames are patronymic, that is, surnames that derive from given names (father’s name). Among the male names, Giovanni is the one that has generated the greatest variety of Italian surnames.

Giovanni (Juan) is a male name that comes from the Hebrew Yohanan, which means ‘The faithful to God’ that from the original Hebrew passed into other languages. Juan is the name of two of the most revered saints in Catholicism: Saint John the Evangelist and Saint John the Baptist. ¹

The cult of these two saints was strong from the dawn of Christianity, but it became more and more important in the Middle Ages with the numerous dialectal variations of the name. Remember that often the dialect was the only language spoken by the people.

Giovannini, Giovannetti, Giovannelli, Giovannoni, Giovani, Gioani, Ioan, Gioana, Di Giovanni, Della Giovanna, Giovagnoli, Giovannozi, Giovannazzi, Giovannoti, Giovannico, Giovannino

Gianni is the contraction of the name Giovanni, very present in the dialects of southern Italy and is found as a surname, with the addition of suffixes, which give it a more familiar and affectionate connotation, numerous variants arose:

Giani, Giannelli, Giannetti, Giannini, Giannoli, Ganoli, Gianasi, Gianuzzi, Giannazzi, Gianeschi, Giannetto, Giannino, Giannello, Gianno, Gianello, Gianetto, Giannico, Giannozzo

See also surnames derived from Ianni

Distribution