SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Gabbani

Origin and meaning

According to E. Rossoni, these surnames must derive from the archaic term gabbana or gabbano, a kind of large coat used in the medieval period, with sleeves and hood, sometimes lined with fur. It was used perhaps to indicate that the ancestors tended to wear that type of coat or that they perhaps made them. Despite being such an infrequent surname in Italy, it turns out to be known worldwide because of the Italian fashion firm.

Distribution

  • Gabban is found in the Alessandria and Novara areas and in Rovigo.
  • Gabbana is typical of Treviso, Pordenone and Venice.
  • Gabbani is found in the Verbania area, Tuscany (between Pistoia, Florence and Pisa) and in Pesaro.
  • Gabbano is practically unique.

💡 The surname Gabbani also appears as variant of the surname Gabban in other studies consulted in this project.

Variants

📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)

The 5 recorded variants show how a single group of related surnames evolved according to geographic area, historical period, and dialect.

Sources

This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:

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