SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Aprea

Origin and meaning

E. De Felice and E. Rossoni differ on the origin of the surname.

De Felice identifies it as a surname very common in the Naples area, formed from the place name Prèa (in the Caserta area), with the agglutination of the -a of the preposition da which, in the original ethnic nickname, expressed origin and provenance (da Prea > d'Aprea > Aprea).

Rossoni suggests, on the other hand, that the origin could be the Greek name Aprea or the name of a locality associated with a temple dedicated to Venus Aprea, mentioned in a text of 1516. He documents the transformation into a surname in Naples in 1339 with the public notary Facium de Aprea, and in Palermo in 1450.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Naples

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

Comparative analysis based on 2 authors: where they agree, the hypothesis is strengthened; where they differ, the alternative interpretations are presented.

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