Transformation into a surname, frequently through a patronymic or matronymic, of names and nicknames derived from the appellatives, the predicates and titles of consideration dònno, surviving in the apocopated type dòn, and dònna (from the Latin domnus and domna, from dominus and domina) "lord, master; lady, mistress", which in the South are often generalised in use and addressed to all persons with whom there are no relations of kinship or of close friendship and trust, according to E. De Felice.