SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Santacroce

Origin and meaning

E. De Felice notes that this surname was formed from the place name Santa Croce, frequent throughout Italy and especially in the region of Campania, in the Caserta, Salerno and Benevento areas.

E. Rossoni characterizes it as typical of the centre-south of Italy and highlights that it presents multiple independent lines of origin (ceppi), arisen in different regions without a direct relation between them. They all derive from homonymous place names: localities called Santa Croce in the Caserta, Benevento, Teramo, Latina and L'Aquila areas, as well as Santa Croce Camerina, in the Ragusa area, among other nuclei.

💡 The surname Santacroce also appears as variant of the surname Santi in other studies consulted in this project.

Geographic distribution: Peninsular South (predominantly)

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

This entry brings together what 2 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