Riggi
This form is a variant of the surname Reggio.
Origin and meaning
E. De Felice and E. Rossoni agree that the surname derives from the place names containing the root Reggio.
De Felice distinguishes two origins and two areas of diffusion. On the one hand, Reggio, together with Reggi, Regio, Reggiani and Reggianini, is the transformation into a surname of the place name Reggio Emilia and its ethnic Reggiano, diffused in the north up to Tuscany. On the other hand, Reggio, together with Riggio, Riggi and Reggino, reflects the place name Reggio Calabria —Riggiu, Riggi and Riji in Calabrian and Sicilian usage— and its ethnic Reggino, diffused in the south-west.
Rossoni notes that the surname is present occasionally throughout Italy, with areas in Piedmont, Lombardy, Liguria, Veneto, Friuli, Lazio, Campania, Apulia and Calabria.
Variants
Altered forms and derivatives
- Reggiani 📄 (own page)
- Reggianini
- Reggino
Geographic distribution: North to Tuscany (Reggio Emilia); South-West, southern Calabria and eastern Sicily (Reggio Calabria)
📍 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:
- 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