SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Perna

Origin and meaning

A surname deriving from the feminine Latin name Perna, of which Perla is a derivative, and which has the meaning of "shell, precious or rare thing"; it could also derive from names of localities present in many Italian regions.

💡 The surname Perna also appears as variant of the surname Perla in other studies consulted in this project.

Altered forms and derivatives

Geographic distribution: A surname diffused in around 760 comuni of all the Italian regions; frequent above all in Campania, Lazio, Sicily, Apulia, and, with smaller nuclei, in Lombardy, Tuscany, Calabria and Piedmont. In Sicily it is present in all the provinces: Palermo, Caltanissetta, Syracuse, Catania and Enna (in the comuni of Enna, Regalbuto, Villarosa and Agira).

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

Entry compiled from specialized sources on Italian surname studies.

Sources

This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:

  • Miranda, F. (2013). I cognomi di Regalbuto, Catenanuova e Centuripe. Ginevra Bentivoglio EditoriA.