SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Alzati

Origin and meaning

The surname Alzate is of clearly toponymic origin and is linked to northern Italy. According to E. De Felice, it is a surname specific to Milan and upper Lombardy, formed from the place name Alzate Brianza (province of Como).

Along the same lines, E. Rossoni confirms this origin, indicating that the surname derives directly from the name of this town in the Como area, which points to the place of provenance of the founder of the lineage.

Taken together, both interpretations fully agree in pointing to a precise geographical origin, where the surname Alzate identifies people originating from Alzate Brianza, following a pattern very common in the formation of medieval Italian surnames.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Milan, upper Lombardy

📍 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:

  • De Felice, E. (1978). Dizionario dei cognomi italiani. Milano: Mondadori.
  • Rossoni, E. (2002). Origine e storia dei cognomi italiani. Retrieved from https://www.cognomiitaliani.org