SURNAMES IN ITALY

Perli

This form is a variant of the surname Perlo.

Origin and meaning

The surname Perlo has a mainly toponymic and regional origin, with roots in the north-west of Italy, especially in the Piedmontese and Ligurian area.

In most cases, Perlo derives from minor place names or from microtoponyms formed from ancient bases related to:

  • elevated or stony terrain,
  • features of the landscape,
  • or very old local designations, prior even to classical Latin.

In this sense, Perlo originally identified a person by the place where they lived or from which they came, and not by a trade or a given name.

Diffusion in Italy

The surname Perlo is infrequent and very localized, with a historical presence above all in:

  • Piedmont (especially rural areas),
  • Liguria,
  • and some bordering zones of the Italian north-west.

There are also isolated records in Sardinia and in southern Italy, attributable to later internal migrations, but the original nucleus of the surname is clearly found in the north.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Distinctly Piedmontese, from the Turin and Cuneo areas, with a presence also in the Savona and Imperia areas

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

This entry brings together what 2 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:

  • 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.