SURNAMES IN ITALY

Sinopolo

This form is a variant of the surname Sinopoli.

Origin and meaning

E. De Felice notes that it is a surname proper to Calabria, formed from the place name Sinopoli —a locality that comprises the frazioni of Sinopoli Inferiore, Superiore and Vecchio— in the Reggio Calabria area.

E. Rossoni details the geographic distribution of the surname with greater precision. In Calabria he identifies a main zone in the Catanzaro area, with a presence in Catanzaro, Lamezia Terme, Davoli, Satriano, Soverato, Borgia and Squillace; it also appears in the Crotone area, in Monasterace within the Reggio Calabria area, and in San Marco Argentano in the Cosenza area. He likewise notes a Sicilian zone with a presence in Messina, in Mirabella Imbaccari and Caltagirone within the Catania area, and in Palermo. Both authors agree that the surname derives from the name of the locality of Sinopoli. Rossoni further mentions the variant Sinopolo, which he considers practically non-existent and attributes with probability to a transcription error of the main surname.

Variants

Geographic distribution: Calabria

📍 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