SURNAMES IN ITALY

Pratone

This form is an altered form of the surname Platone.

Origin and meaning

A. Bongioanni and E. Rossoni differ on the origin of the surname.

Bongioanni notes that the given name enters Italian onomastics accidentally, and records the case as one of the many in which appearances deceive. The surname Platone exists in Piedmont, but the variants Pilatone (Crissolo) and Pratone (Saluzzo) reveal that the etymology comes from the dialect: plà is equivalent to 'bald'.

Rossoni, on the other hand, derives it from the Greek name Plato, the celebrated philosopher, author of the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, in which he mentions the myth of Atlantis.

Variants

Altered forms and derivatives

Geographic distribution: Piedmont

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

Comparative analysis based on 2 authors: where they agree, the hypothesis is strengthened; where they differ, the alternative interpretations are presented.

Sources

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

  • Bongioanni, A. (1940). Nomi e Cognomi. Saggio di ricerche etimologiche e storiche. Milano: Fratelli Bocca.
  • Rossoni, E. (2002). Origine e storia dei cognomi italiani. Retrieved from https://www.cognomiitaliani.org