Pernicone
This form is a variant of the surname Perniciaro.
Origin and meaning
E. Rossoni and V. Blunda agree that the surname indicates the trade of the ancestors, although they differ on what that trade was.
E. Rossoni proposes that they were people who worked pernas (shells), producing the characteristic Sicilian decorative objects of a marine style.
V. Blunda, on the other hand, for the Sicilian variant derives it from the word perniciàru ("partridge hunter"), with the suffix -àru, productive in the Sicilian formation of occupational names. As a surname it could have originated in an occupational nickname applied to one who habitually engaged in that small game hunting.
Variants
Geographic distribution: Perniciaro is typically Sicilian, from Mazara del Vallo, Trapani and Erice in the Trapani area, and from Palermo and Mezzojuso in the Palermo area. Pernicone, also Sicilian, is from Catania and Misterbianco in the Catania area.
📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)
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
- Blunda, V. (2018). Supposte origini dei cognomi in Sicilia [Digital edition]. Retrieved from https://www.trapaninostra.it