SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Castellan

Origin and meaning

E. Rossoni notes that this surname derives from nicknames linked to the fact of inhabiting a castle or depending on one, although it can also come from nicknames related to place names that contain the root Castello. Rossoni places its presence in the northeast of Italy, in the regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige.

F. De Laurentiis proposes, on the other hand, that the surname derives directly from Castelli, without developing an etymological explanation of its own.

💡 The surname Castellan also appears as variant of the surname Castellani; also altered form of the surname Castèlli in other studies consulted in this project.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Castellan: Triveneto. Castellana: Trieste area, Piacenza area, Rome, Puglia, Sicily. Castellano: all of Italy, with great prevalence in the South, especially Sicily, Puglia and Campania. Castellani: mainly central-northern Italy. Castellari: Emilia and Savona area. Castellaro: Venice area, Alessandria area and Genoa. Castellazzi: Bergamo and Modena areas. Castelletti: Lombardy. Castelli: all of Italy. Castellin: Padua area. Castellini: all of Italy (Brescia, Verona, Vicenza areas; eastern Liguria; Umbria; Palermo area). Castello: distributed throughout Italy. Castellotti: Lombardy (Milan, Pavia, Lodi areas). Castellucci: Romagna, Tuscany, the Marche, Lazio, Matera area, Taranto area. Castelluccio: Naples, Salerno, Foggia, Potenza areas and Palermo area. Castelluzzo: Palermo area, Lecce area

📍 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:

  • Rossoni, E. (2002). Origine e storia dei cognomi italiani. Retrieved from https://www.cognomiitaliani.org
  • De Laurentiis, F. (2003). Cognomi occhiobellesi. Storia, curiosità, significati e classifiche. Occhiobello: Teatro Polivalente di Occhiobello (T.P.O.). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20030516113456/http://www.comune.occhiobello.ro.it/cognomi/