SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Senise

Origin and meaning

E. De Felice and F. De Laurentiis agree that the surname was formed from the place name Senise, in the province of Potenza.

De Laurentiis adds that it is diffused in the south, especially in Campania and Basilicata.

V. Blunda, on the other hand, for the Sicilian variant derives it from the word sinìsi ("native of Siena"), a demonym that refers to the Tuscan city with which Sicily maintained medieval mercantile relations. As a surname, it could have originated in a nickname applied to a person of Sienese origin or to a traveller who had resided there.

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

Variants

Geographic distribution: The South; especially Campania and Basilicata

📍 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.
  • De Laurentiis, F. (2003). Cognomi occhiobellesi. Storia, curiosità, significati e classifiche. Occhiobello: Teatro Polivalente di Occhiobello (T.P.O.). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20030516113456/http://www.comune.occhiobello.ro.it/cognomi/
  • Blunda, V. (2018). Supposte origini dei cognomi in Sicilia [Digital edition]. Retrieved from https://www.trapaninostra.it