SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Poletti

Origin and meaning

Derived from a diminutive of the given name PAOLO. This surname is typical of northern and central Italy.

E. Rossoni and F. De Laurentiis agree that the surname may derive from the name Paolo, through the Venetan form Polo.

Rossoni adds that it may also come from place names such as Poletto Mantovano or Poletto Veronese. He documents the first transformations into a surname in a deed of donation of 1624 by a certain Pietro Poletto of Rivara (Turin).

De Laurentiis specifies that it is a derivative of Paoli, from the name of Venetan popular tradition Polo, and notes that it is frequent in the Venetias.

💡 The surname Poletti also appears as altered form of the surname Paoli in other studies consulted in this project.

Variants

Geographic distribution: northern and central Italy

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

Drawing on 3 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:

  • Rossoni, E. (2002). Origine e storia dei cognomi italiani. Retrieved from https://www.cognomiitaliani.org
  • De Laurentiis, F. (2003). Cognomi occhiobellesi. Storia, curiosità, significati e classifiche. Occhiobello: Teatro Polivalente di Occhiobello (T.P.O.). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20030516113456/http://www.comune.occhiobello.ro.it/cognomi/
  • Research conducted by Surnames in Italy, the English-language project of Ancestros Italianos, based on the bibliography cited in the references.