SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Sclafani

Origin and meaning

E. De Felice considers that this surname was formed from the place name Sclafani, a locality of the province of Palermo, in the north-west of Sicily.

E. Rossoni agrees on its Sicilian origin and places it specifically in the area comprising the Palermo and Agrigento areas, with a particular presence around Sclafani Bagni. As to the etymology, Rossoni proposes that the place name would derive from the Latin term scaphula ("little boat"), in turn taken from the Greek scapha ("boat, vessel").

Geographic distribution: North-western Sicily

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

Drawing on 2 authors, this entry presents the different hypotheses about the origin of the surname, avoiding a single oversimplified explanation.

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