Where the Alessi surname comes from
Alessi comes from a personal name: Alessio, in Greek Aléxios. It comes from a verb that means “to defend, to protect,” and Alessio originally meant something like “the one who protects.”
In the South, Greek names had been at home for centuries. When surnames began to settle, the children of an Alessio became “Alessio’s folk”: the Alessi. In so many Sicilian surnames, the final -i means just that, “the family of.” A town proves that Alessi is the Sicilian way of saying Alessio, and the PDF tells you which one.
A saint under the stairs
The name owes a lot to a saint much loved in the Middle Ages, Saint Alexius, “the man of God.” His legend tells of a very rich young man from Rome who left on his wedding night. Then of seventeen years lived as a stranger in his own home. The PDF tells how it ends, with a note clutched in one hand.
Where the Alessi live today
Alessi is first and foremost a Sicilian surname. There are about 4,200 families in Italy, with their heart in the island’s interior, around Caltanissetta and the nearby towns. In the 1900s many families moved north and to Rome, and today the surname is well established in Lombardy and Lazio. The town where it is number one, though, is in Calabria: Taurianova, in the province of Reggio. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world the Alessi reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The same name gave rise to different surnames from Naples to Sicily, and one is even more numerous than Alessi. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Alessi | Sicily, Lombardy, Lazio |
| Alessio | Campania, Lazio, Piedmont |
| D’Alessio | Campania, Lazio, Abruzzo |
| Alesi | Sicily, Marche, Lazio |
FAQ
What does the surname Alessi mean?
It comes from the name Alessio, from the Greek Aléxios, “the one who protects.” The Alessi were “Alessio’s folk”: the children and descendants of a man with that name.
Is Alessi a Sicilian surname?
Yes, first and foremost. Its heart is in the interior of Sicily, and in the province of Caltanissetta Alessi is the tenth most common surname. The town where it is number one, though, is Taurianova, in Calabria.
Are Alessi and Alessio the same surname?
They come from the same name. Alessio is the name unchanged and is strong in Campania; Alessi is the Sicilian form, with the -i that marks the family. D’Alessio means “son of Alessio,” in the style of Naples and Abruzzo.
Do Alessi and Alessandro have the same origin?
The Greek root is the same, but they are two names. Alessandro means “the one who protects men,” Alessio simply “the one who protects.” D’Alessandro and Alessandrini belong to another family of surnames.
Are all the Alessi related?
No. The surname was born in many places, among the children of different men named Alessio. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Alessi surname noble?
The surname itself is not a sign of nobility. The archives record noble Alessi families in Cammarata and Nicosia, barons of Montegrosso and Sisto, but they were specific branches. Almost all other Alessi families never even had a coat of arms.
Is there an Alessi family coat of arms?
Some Alessi families had a coat of arms, but it belonged to that one branch. The archives record several, in Sicily, Piedmont and Tuscany, and they are completely different from one another. There is no coat of arms that belongs to all the Alessi.
