SURNAMES IN ITALY

Dilecce

This form is a variant of the surname Di Lecce.

Origin and meaning

E. Rossoni and F. Miranda agree that the surname derives from the place name Lecce, a city of the region of Puglia. Miranda specifies that it indicates, very probably, the provenance of the first bearer from that city, and cites V. Criscito (Retaggio e genealogia) to note that the name Lecce has ancient roots: it would derive from the Latin Lypiae or Lipiae, and possibly from the Greek Leúke (Λεύκη), which means "white", in allusion to the light colour of the rocks that surround the city.

Rossoni places the surname in Puglia and in the Matera area. Miranda broadens that distribution and describes it as typical of Puglia and of Basilicata, with ramifications in Lombardy, Lazio, Campania, Piedmont, Molise and Emilia-Romagna; in Sicily it appears in a scarce way, in the provinces of Palermo, Caltanissetta and Enna.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Puglia and Matera 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:

  • 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.