SURNAMES IN ITALY

Contissa

This form is a variant of the surname Contessa.

Origin and meaning

E. Rossoni notes that this surname would derive from the medieval name Contissa or Contessa, documented in a bill of sale of the year 1147 in Milan, which makes it a matronymic. In some cases, it could also come from place names such as Contessa, in the Avellino area, or Contessa Entellina, in the Palermo area.

According to Rossoni, the surname is very widespread in the Terni area, in the centre-north of Lazio, in the Naples area, in the Palermo area and in Puglia. The variant Contissa, considerably rarer, would seem to be peculiar to the Agrigento area.

A. Bongioanni considers it a Latin given name of feminine gender and notes that it shares its origin with the surname Matilde.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Contessa is very widespread in the Terni area, in the centre-north of Lazio, in the Naples area, in the Palermo area and in Puglia. Contissa, much rarer, would seem to be of the Agrigento area.

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

Drawing on 2 authors, this entry presents the different hypotheses about the origin of the surname, avoiding a single oversimplified explanation.

Sources

This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:

  • Bongioanni, A. (1940). Nomi e Cognomi. Saggio di ricerche etimologiche e storiche. Milano: Fratelli Bocca.
  • Rossoni, E. (2002). Origine e storia dei cognomi italiani. Retrieved from https://www.cognomiitaliani.org