SURNAMES IN ITALY

Dominicis

This form is a variant of the surname Dominici.

Origin and meaning

A long list of Italian surnames derives from the given name Domenico, as happens with the names Antonio, Giacomo, Giovanni and Marco.

The name Domenico (Domenicus = Domingo) is a masculine proper name of Latin origin. It comes from the Latin dominus (lord), and its meaning is "consecrated to the Lord", Sunday being the day of the week dedicated to God. Another attributed meaning is "the one who was born on Sunday".

According to an estimate of the year 2000, Domenico was the thirteenth most common Italian masculine name; according to the study of Bongioanni, this is due to the use of names of Christian religious tradition to name people, which later became surnames.

In this case, it is the devotion towards Saint Dominic. Dominic of Guzmán (1170-1221) was a Castilian priest and Catholic saint, founder of the Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans. The Basilica of Saint Dominic is one of the main places of worship of Bologna (Italy) and the principal seat of the Dominican Order. And it is precisely in the Bologna and Veneto area where we find a great variety of surnames derived from Domenico and its variants.

The name Domingo = Domenico in the Italian dialects

In addition to the linguistic phenomena that we have already mentioned and that gave rise to the great variety of Italian surnames, we must take into account the variants of a proper name in the dialects. Thus Domenico is transformed into:

  • Emilian: Mingàtt, Mingòun, Minghìn
  • Friulian: Domèni, Domìni – Hypocoristic: Meni, Mini, Menisi, Minicius, Meny, Miniguzo, Miny, Domine, Domenaçi, Domenico, Domenigut, Dominico, Duminigut, Duminigùs, Mena, Menegan, Menigùs, Minel, Minigùs, Minigut, Minùs, Minot, Menegon, Minutin, Minutìs, Domenich, Dominìs, Minighin, Minisut, Domini, Minin, Domenio, Mingòs, Domenea, Minìs, Minyn, Menot, Miniut, Domenio, Domenego, Minico, Duminy, Miniuto, Dominique, Minicho, Domeneòs, Dominidio, Miniuço, Dumini
  • Neapolitan: Dominicu, Nicu
  • Piedmontese: Dumini, Meco, Mini, Mine, Minino, Minòto
  • Lombard: Dumenach, Ménech, Mènech, Mènego, Menghì, Menghin, Mighì
  • Sardinian: Dominigu
  • Sicilian: Nnuminicu, Minicu, Minicuzzu, Michineddru – Hypocoristic: Miciu, Mimmu, Mimì, Mimmo, Mimì, Micu
  • Tuscan: Domenico, Menico, Menicuccio, Menichino, Domenichino, Domenicuccio – Hypocoristic: Mimmo, Menico, Micuccio, Mingo
  • Venetan: Ménego, Nìco.

Quite an extensive list, isn't it?

Variants

Geographic distribution: Dominici is distributed throughout the centre-north of Italy and in Sicily, with greater concentration in the strip that comprises Romagna, the Marche, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio; Dominicis is specific to Monte Compatri (province of Rome) and to Rome

📍 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
  • Research conducted by Surnames in Italy, the English-language project of Ancestros Italianos, based on the bibliography cited in the references.