SURNAMES IN ITALY

Fortino

This form is an altered form of the surname Forti.

Origin and meaning

The authors agree that this surname derives from the personal name Forte, which continues the Late Latin personal name Fortis, formed on the adjective fortis ("strong"), mainly in its moral and Christian sense: "firm, determined and brave in facing evils and in persevering in good and in the faith".

E. De Felice notes that the surname is distributed throughout Italy, with related forms such as Fort and Fortìn in the Veneto, and Lo Forte in Sicily.

Variants

Altered forms and derivatives

Geographic distribution: Italy; Fort and Fortìn in the Veneto; Lo Forte in Sicily

📍 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:

  • De Felice, E. (1978). Dizionario dei cognomi italiani. Milano: Mondadori.
  • De Laurentiis, F. (2003). Cognomi occhiobellesi. Storia, curiosità, significati e classifiche. Occhiobello: Teatro Polivalente di Occhiobello (T.P.O.). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20030516113456/http://www.comune.occhiobello.ro.it/cognomi/