SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Di Mattia

Origin and meaning

The authors agree that Di Mattia is a patronymic surname that means "son of Mattia", derived from the personal name Mattia (a variant of Matteo). F. Miranda specifies the biblical origin of the name: it comes from the Hebrew Matithyah, composed of matath ("gift") and yah (an abbreviation of Yahweh), meaning "gift of God".

E. Rossoni places the surname mainly in the Piceno area, the L'Aquila area and the Rome area, with presence also in the Naples area and the Bari area. He also notes the variant Dimattia, located in Gravina in Puglia, in the Bari area. Miranda broadens the geographical distribution and indicates that the surname is spread in numerous regions, with greater presence in Abruzzo, Lazio, Campania, Puglia and Sicily, and specific zones also in Liguria, the Marche, Lombardy and Umbria. In Sicily it appears in the provinces of Catania, Palermo, Messina and Enna, with presence in the municipalities of Enna, Regalbuto and Calascibetta.

💡 The surname Di Mattia also appears as variant of the surname Di Mattei in other studies consulted in this project.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Piceno area, L'Aquila area and Rome area, with zones also in the Naples area and Bari area (Di Mattia), Bari area in Gravina in Puglia (Dimattia)

📍 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
  • Miranda, F. (2013). I cognomi di Regalbuto, Catenanuova e Centuripe. Ginevra Bentivoglio EditoriA.