SURNAMES IN ITALY

Surname Tivoli

Origin and meaning

Derived from the resort town of Tivoli, near Rome, originally called Tibur in Latin, of uncertain origin.

E. De Felice notes that this is a surname of Jewish origin, formed from the place name Tivoli —a city of the Lazio region, with an old Italian Jewish community that was dispersed during the 16th and 17th centuries. This type of toponymic surname was usual among Italian Jewish families, who adopted as a surname the name of the locality where they resided or from which they came.

E. Rossoni agrees on the toponymic origin referring to Tivoli, though without mentioning the Jewish link. Rossoni considers it an infrequent surname, clearly rooted in Lazio, in the Rome area.

Geographic distribution: Italy (Jewish)

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

Comparative analysis based on 3 authors: where they agree, the hypothesis is strengthened; where they differ, the alternative interpretations are presented.

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.