Surname Baudo
Origin and meaning
Surname whose base is the personal name Baldo, documented between the 11th and 12th centuries; according to De Felice it could be a hypocoristic (abbreviated form) of names such as Ubaldo, Tebaldo, Rambaldo, or a name formed by apocope (dropping of a second element) as in the case of Baldovino. Etymologically Baldo is the adaptation of the Germanic adjective baltha, meaning "bold, brave".
The name is documented as autonomous in Italy as early as the 9th century in the Lombard form Paldus and, from 948, in the Frankish tradition Baldus. Traces of this surname-formation appear in a parchment of 1110 that cites a Radulfus Baudus, holder of a feudo molendini.
💡 The surname Baudo also appears as variants of the surnames Ardo and Baudi in other studies consulted in this project.
Geographic distribution: Surname spread across around 150 Italian comuni in the regions of Sicily, Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, Lazio and, to a lesser extent, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Puglia. In Sicily it is present in all the provinces, predominantly in the Catania area (Misterbianco, Catania, Scordia, Belpasso, Gravina di Catania, San Giovanni La Punta, Palagonia, Militello Val di Catania, Aci Castello, Mascali, Paternò), the Messina area (Ficarra, Messina, Brolo, Cesarò, Milazzo), the Palermo area (Misilmeri, Altavilla Milicia, Altofonte, Monreale), the Enna area (Troina, Regalbuto, Nicosia), the Trapani area (Trapani, Erice) and the Syracuse area (Augusta, Lentini).
📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)
Sources
This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:
- Miranda, F. (2013). I cognomi di Regalbuto, Catenanuova e Centuripe. Ginevra Bentivoglio EditoriA.