SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Sessa

Origin and meaning

Originally indicated a person from from Sessa or Sessa Cilento, Italy (from Latin Suessa, of uncertain meaning).

The authors agree that this surname has a toponymic origin, derived from the place names Sessa Aurunca, in the Caserta area, and Sessa Cilento, in the Salerno area, both in the region of Campania.

E. De Felice also notes a presence of the surname in Calabria, without specifying the reference place name. E. Rossoni broadens the picture and identifies an additional nucleus in the Varese area, which could derive from the name of the Swiss town of Sessa, located between Luino and Ponte Tresa. Rossoni also records a presence of the surname in the south-east of Sicily, although he considers it secondary with respect to the Campanian nucleus, which appears as the most characteristic.

The surname therefore presents multiple independent lines of origin (ceppi), arisen in different regions without a direct relation between them.

Geographic distribution: Campania and Calabria

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

Drawing on 3 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
  • Research conducted by Surnames in Italy, the English-language project of Ancestros Italianos, based on the bibliography cited in the references.