SURNAMES IN ITALY

Kalis

This form is an altered form of the surname Calicchio.

Origin and meaning

E. Rossoni locates this surname in the Camerota area, in the province of Salerno, and in Noci, in the Bari area.

F. Miranda considers it a surname of the Campania region, with a presence extended in several regions: Lombardy, Apulia, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio, Basilicata, Piedmont, Veneto and Tuscany. In Sicily it is recorded in Messina and in the Enna area, specifically in the locality of Catenanuova. Miranda notes that Calicchio is a diminutive of the surname Calì, derived from the Greek kalis, meaning "beautiful" —in the feminine nominative and genitive respectively—, and that it probably arose as a byname attributed to a first bearer for his physical or behavioural characteristics.

Variants

Altered forms and derivatives

Geographic distribution: Apulia: Bari 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
  • Miranda, F. (2013). I cognomi di Regalbuto, Catenanuova e Centuripe. Ginevra Bentivoglio EditoriA.