SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Galbani

Origin and meaning

The authors agree that the surname derives from the medieval name Galvanus, with the change of v for b peculiar to Lombard dialectal speech —just as malba is said for malva—, which gives rise to the form Galbanus and then to the present surname. Its origin is clearly Lombard, with presence concentrated in the Milan, Lecco and Bergamo areas.

E. Rossoni notes that it could also derive from the Latin cognomen Galba, although he considers more probable the dialectal route from Galvanus, and cites as an example friar Simon Galvanus of Padua, documented towards the year 1300.

There are also later documentary references: in 1404 a Galbanus de Galbaneis appears in the Liber Mirabilium of Castelli, and in 1579 a Dominicus Galbanius is recorded in Baiedo.

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

Geographic distribution: Peculiar to Lombardy, with great concentration in the Milan, Lecco and Bergamo areas.

📍 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.