SURNAMES IN ITALY

Tosti

This form is a variant of the surname Tosto.

Origin and meaning

From a nickname for a tough, stubborn person, from  tosto "hard, tough".

The authors agree that this surname derives from a nickname formed from the dialectal adjective tosto (in Neapolitan tuosto, in Sicilian tostu), meaning "hard, stubborn, shameless". Both E. De Felice and V. Blunda note that the term alludes at once to the firm consistency of something and to the obstinate temperament or the effrontery of a person, and that the surname would have arisen as a nickname applied to someone of a tenacious and unceremonious character.

De Felice places the greatest frequency of the surname in eastern Sicily, while Blunda characterises it more broadly as a surname of Sicilian dialectal origin, without specifying a particular zone within the island.

Variants

Geographic distribution: South; greater frequency of Tosto in eastern Sicily

📍 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.
  • Research conducted by Surnames in Italy, the English-language project of Ancestros Italianos, based on the bibliography cited in the references.
  • Blunda, V. (2018). Supposte origini dei cognomi in Sicilia [Digital edition]. Retrieved from https://www.trapaninostra.it