SURNAMES IN ITALY

Chiarotto

This form is a variant of the surname Chiarion.

Origin and meaning

E. Rossoni notes that Chiarion is native to the Rovigo area. As for the origin, he proposes several hypotheses: it could derive from the medieval name Claro, meaning "luminous"; or from nicknames related to place names such as Chiari, in the Brescia area, or Chiarone, in the Grosseto area. Rossoni also gathers the opinion of the scholar Olivieri, according to whom Chiarion could derive from the name of the Saracen character Clarione, peculiar to Carolingian onomastics.

F. De Laurentiis describes it as a Venetan derivative of the Latin clarus, which agrees in general terms with the etymological base noted by Rossoni.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Rovigo area, Florence area, Veneto

📍 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/