SURNAMES IN ITALY

Aimonino

This form is an altered form of the surname Aimo.

Origin and meaning

It has as its base the name of Germanic origin Aimo and Aimone, formed from *haimi- ("homeland, inhabited place"; German Heim). Documented in Italy from the 8th century in the forms Haimo and Haimone, the name remained in use until the Renaissance, though with aristocratic usage. Its popular diffusion was driven by the epic cycle of "The Four Sons of Aymon", very popular in both France and Italy during the Middle Ages. Bongioanni notes that the initial Germanic aspirate is sometimes reinforced into a velar consonant, which explains the Lombard form Caimi and Caimo. The surname is widespread mainly in north-central-western Italy.

Variants

Altered forms and derivatives

Geographic distribution: North-central-western Italy; Piedmont, Lombardy (Caimi), Veneto

📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)

Drawing on 2 authors, this entry presents the different hypotheses about the origin of the surname, avoiding a single oversimplified explanation.

Sources

This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:

  • Bongioanni, A. (1940). Nomi e Cognomi. Saggio di ricerche etimologiche e storiche. Milano: Fratelli Bocca.
  • De Felice, E. (1978). Dizionario dei cognomi italiani. Milano: Mondadori.