SURNAMES IN ITALY

Nicotra

This form is a variant of the surname Nicotera.

Origin and meaning

The authors agree that this surname has its origin in the place name Nicotera, a locality of Calabria. E. De Felice notes that the epicentre of the surname is found in Calabria, and that the variant Nicotra is one of the most frequent surnames in the Catania area, in Sicily.

E. Rossoni specifies that the surname would derive from place names such as Marina di Nicotera or Nicotera, the latter situated in the Vibo Valentia area, and places the presence of the surname mainly in the Vibo Valentia and Catanzaro areas, while the variant Nicotra would be specific to the Catania area, in southern Italy.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Calabria (epicentre); Sicily (Nicotra frequent)

📍 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:

  • 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