SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Sarno

Origin and meaning

Originally denoted a person from Sarno in Italy, named for the Sarno River (called Sarnus in Latin).

The authors agree that this surname derives from the place name Sarno, a city located in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania. E. De Felice notes that the surname has a high frequency in Naples and its bordering areas.

E. Rossoni specifies that the surname is proper to Campania, with a presence in the Naples, Avellino and Salerno areas, and adds that the original motivation may be both the place name Sarno and the name of the homonymous river that crosses that zone. Rossoni also records a secondary nucleus in the Bari area, in the region of Apulia.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Campania and bordering areas; high frequency in Naples

📍 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.