SURNAMES IN ITALY

Girasoli

This form is a variant of the surname Girasole.

Origin and meaning

The authors agree that the surname Girasole would derive from the Italian Renaissance name Girasole ("sunflower"), used in both its masculine and feminine forms.

F. Miranda adds that, etymologically, the term comes from the Greek heliánthos, compounded from helios ("sun") and anthos ("flower"), in reference to the plant's characteristic of turning towards the sun (heliotropism). Miranda also notes that there is a place name of the same form in the locality of Girasole, in the province of Ogliastra, in the region of Sardinia.

E. Rossoni indicates that the surname is scattered across central and southern Italy, with specific areas in Campania (Naples, Montecorvino Rovella and Sessa Aurunca), Basilicata (Montalbano Jonico), Apulia (Andria and Taranto), the Crotone area (Isola di Capo Rizzuto) and Sicily (Sciacca and Mazara del Vallo). The variant Girasoli, considerably rarer, is recorded in Apulia, in the localities of Ruvo di Puglia, San Pancrazio Salentino and Tricase.

Miranda, for his part, broadens the geographical distribution and reports a presence in approximately 115 municipalities across several regions, with the highest frequencies in Sicily, Campania, Apulia, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Lazio, Calabria, Basilicata, Abruzzo and Liguria.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Girasole is scattered across the whole of central and southern Italy, with small isolated pockets in the region of Campania (in Naples, Montecorvino Rovella and Sessa Aurunca), in Basilicata (in Montalbano Jonico), in the Apulia area (in Andria and Taranto), in the Crotone area (in Isola di Capo Rizzuto) and in Sicily (in Sciacca and Mazara del Vallo). Girasoli, considerably rarer, has an isolated pocket in the Apulia area (in Ruvo di Puglia, San Pancrazio Salentino and Tricase).

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

Comparative analysis based on 2 authors: where they agree, the hypothesis is strengthened; where they differ, the alternative interpretations are presented.

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
  • Miranda, F. (2013). I cognomi di Regalbuto, Catenanuova e Centuripe. Ginevra Bentivoglio EditoriA.