Ipolito
This form is a variant of the surname Ippolito.
Origin and meaning
The authors agree that this surname derives from the given name Hippolytus, the Latin form taken from the Greek Hippolytos, compounded from hippos ("horse") and lyein ("to loose, to set free"), with the original meaning "he who unyokes the horses".
E. Rossoni notes that traces of the name already appear in Seneca's tragedy Phaedra. Rossoni further distinguishes between two forms: Ippoliti, proper to the central strip comprising the Marche, Umbria, Abruzzo and Lazio, and Ippolito, typical of the whole of southern Italy.
E. De Felice and A. Bongioanni agree that the name was borne by eleven saints and one blessed, the most venerated being Saint Hippolytus, a Doctor of the Church of the 3rd century, celebrated on 22 August. Both indicate that the surname spread from southern Italy as far as the Marche and southern Lazio. Bongioanni adds that a possible derivative is the surname Polti.
P. Durante agrees on the Greek origin of the surname, from the given name.
Variants
- D'Ippolito 📄 (own page)
- Di Ippolito
- Ipolito
- Ippoliti 📄 (own page)
Altered forms and derivatives
Geographic distribution: The South, as far as the Marche and southern Lazio
📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)
Sources
This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:
- Bongioanni, A. (1940). Nomi e Cognomi. Saggio di ricerche etimologiche e storiche. Milano: Fratelli Bocca.
- De Felice, E. (1978). Dizionario dei cognomi italiani. Milano: Mondadori.
- 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/