SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Cattabriga

Origin and meaning

E. De Felice and E. Rossoni agree that the surname is peculiar to Emilia and derives from a nickname that designated a quarrelsome or troublemaking person. De Felice specifies the dialectal composition of the term: in Emilian, catabriga is formed from catèr ("to find") and briga ("quarrel, dispute"), giving rise to the nickname Cattabriga before its transformation into a surname. Rossoni, for his part, records the graphic variant catabrighe for the same dialectal word, without adding new etymological data.

Geographic distribution: Emilia

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

This entry brings together what 2 authors propose about the origin of the surname. In some cases they agree and reinforce a single hypothesis; in others, they contribute different views worth considering.

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