SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Rais

Origin and meaning

Occupational name for the fisherman in charge of the boat, from  rais "captain", of Arabic origin. It is typical of Sicily and Sardinia.

E. De Felice and E. Rossoni agree that the surname derives from the technical occupational name rais ("skipper of a vessel"), of Arabic origin.

De Felice specifies that, in Sicilian, the form is raisi, and that it designates in particular the one who directs the fishing operations in the tuna traps. He notes that it is an old loanword from the Arabic ra'is ("chief, commander").

Rossoni derives it from the Campidanese seafaring term rais ("chief of a boat, skipper of the vessel"), which in turn could come from the Phoenician word Ŕs ("chief, head"). He adds as an alternative that it could be the apocope of the Sardinian term arràis ("captain of a vessel"), a word derived from the Arabic arra'is with the same meaning.

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

Geographic distribution: Sicily and Sardinia

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

This entry brings together what 3 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:

  • De Felice, E. (1978). Dizionario dei cognomi italiani. Milano: Mondadori.
  • 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.