The surname Rigano is considered of predominantly Sicilian origin and is linked, according to most authors, with the dialect term rìganu, a Sicilian word that designates oregano. Along these lines, G. Blunda includes Rigano within the group of surnames derived from names of plants and elements of the natural environment, very frequent in Sicily, where nicknames linked to the landscape, agriculture and local products were fixed early as hereditary surnames.

In agreement, E. De Felice interprets Rigano as a descriptive byname, applied probably to people related to the cultivation, gathering or trade of oregano, or else to those who lived in zones where this plant was especially abundant, highlighting furthermore the strong Sicilian dialect imprint in the formation of the surname.

E. Rossoni, without ruling out this botanical explanation —which he considers fully valid and documented in Sicily and Calabria—, introduces an alternative hypothesis: in some cases, Rigano could also go back to the medieval Germanic name Riganus, documented in sources of northern Europe, derived in turn from Germanic compounds linked to ideas of counsel and armed group. Nonetheless, Rossoni himself stresses that the strong territorial concentration of the surname in Sicily, together with the existence of clearly dialect variants in southern Italy, reinforces the interpretation of the popular and descriptive origin linked to the term rìganu as the main explanation for most of the lines that bear this surname.

Variants of the surname Rigano

Rigano

• Area: Sicily (especially Palermo, Messina and Catania)
• Note: The main and most characteristic form. A surname of Sicilian dialect origin, linked to the term rìganu ("oregano"), with early fixation as a descriptive byname.

Rigani

• Area: Sicily and isolated presences outside the island
• Note: A plural or patronymic variant, probably arisen to indicate family belonging ("the Rigano family").

Riganello

• Area: Calabria
• Note: A clearly southern form, derived from the dialect rìganu, with the suffix -ello, frequent in surnames of the south. Noted by Rossoni as unequivocally botanical.

Riganelli

• Area: Southern Italy
• Note: A variant with the suffix -elli, of family or patronymic value, possibly originated as a ramification of Riganello or Rigano.

Riganò

• Area: Calabria (the Reggio Calabria area)
• Note: A very rare form, with the final stress typical of the south. Rossoni considers it a direct dialect adaptation of the same term of origin.