Surname Ielo
Origin and meaning
E. Rossoni considers this surname proper to the Reggio Calabria area, in Calabria, and holds that it would derive from a nickname based on the word ielo, an archaic form of the Greek term gelio ("laughter"), which would have characterized the cheerful temperament of the founding ancestor.
P. Durante also attributes a Greek origin to it, though he links it directly to a given name: Gelon.
Geographic distribution: Calabria (Reggio Calabria area)
📍 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
- Bergamo, N. (2013, May 21). Impero Romano d'Oriente 330–1453 la sua storia. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://www.imperobizantino.it/