SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Parodi

Origin and meaning

Parodi is the most common surname in Genoa and also throughout Liguria among the typical ones (the first in the region is Rossi, which is obviously a generic surname, typical of northern and central Italy). It comes from the Latin Prodi, meaning brave, bold; it was perhaps adopted by some Ligurians between the 6th and 9th centuries AD.

The surname originates in Parodi Ligure or Litta Parodi, small comuni of Alessandria that in the past belonged to Liguria, from which there was strong emigration towards the coast and above all towards Genoa, on which the area depended economically and politically.

It is a very old surname; from the year 1100 we find the marquises Parodi, vassals of the Republic of Genoa. The surname appears in Savona in 1214: “Ansaleto Palodo” (the pronunciation of intervocalic -l- as -r- is normal in Genoese). A variant of the surname is Parodo, characteristic of Carloforte, the Sardinian town where Genoese-Tabarchino is spoken.

It is one of the surnames that no longer appear in the Top 200 because of the process of southernisation of Italian surnames.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Central Liguria, Genoa

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

This entry brings together what 3 authors propose about the origin of the surname. In some cases they agree and reinforce a single hypothesis; in others, they contribute different views worth considering.

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
  • Research conducted by Surnames in Italy, the English-language project of Ancestros Italianos, based on the bibliography cited in the references.