SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Giuffrida

Origin and meaning

The authors agree that this surname derives from the medieval name of Germanic origin Godefrida / Godefrido, documented in a deed of 1452. F. Miranda specifies that the original Germanic form is Guthafriths —the equivalent of the Italian Goffredo—, compounded from gutha-gaut ("god") and friths-fridus ("peace"), with the meaning "peace in God" or "protected by God", and notes that it would have been the personal name of the first bearer of the surname. E. Rossoni and G. P. Holmes stress the Norman character of that medieval form and place the surname as typical of eastern Sicily.

As for its geographical distribution, Miranda offers the most detailed picture: the surname is found across much of Italy, with its main core in Sicily, where it is present in every province, with a particular concentration in the Catania, Messina, Syracuse and Palermo areas, as well as in the Enna area. Outside Sicily, it appears in specific areas of Lombardy, Lazio, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany and Liguria.

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

Altered forms and derivatives

Geographic distribution: Typical of eastern Sicily.

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

Comparative analysis based on 3 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.
  • Patti Holmes, G. (2018). Alla scoperta dei cognomi siciliani. Retrieved from https://www.ilsicilia.it