Where the Argento surname comes from
Argento is the Italian name of a precious metal, silver, from the Latin argentum. There are two possible paths. The first is a trade: the silversmith, the craftsman who made chalices, plates and jewelry. The second is a personal name, fairly common in central Italy in the Middle Ages. The origin remains debated, and the surname was born several times in different places.
A family of filmmakers
Around the world the Argento surname is famous thanks to a family of Sicilian origin. A father who was a producer, a son who directs films and is known as the “master of horror,” another son who is a producer, and two granddaughters who are actresses. The PDF tells how they worked together for decades, along with the story of another Argento who won the Pulitzer Prize.
Where the Argentos live today
Argento is first and foremost a Sicilian surname. There are about 750 families in Italy, and more than half live in Sicily, in the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento. The other roots are around Naples and probably around Bari. The record is in Siculiana, on the coast of Agrigento, where Argento is the third most common surname in town. Part of the family crossed the ocean with emigration. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
Next to Argento there are two surnames close in meaning, one from the South and one from Central and Northern Italy. The PDF explains whether they really share the same origin.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Argento | Sicily, Campania, Apulia |
| Argentieri | Apulia, Lazio, Abruzzo |
| Argenti | Lazio, Lombardy, Umbria |
FAQ
What does the surname Argento mean?
It comes from the Latin argentum, the precious metal silver. It could point to the silversmith, the craftsman who worked silver, or come from Argento, a personal name of the Middle Ages. The origin remains debated.
Is Argento a Sicilian surname?
Mostly, yes: more than half of Italy’s Argentos live in Sicily, mainly in the provinces of Palermo and Agrigento. But the surname also has a root around Naples and probably one around Bari.
Are Argento, Argenti and Argentieri the same surname?
They are close in meaning, but they don’t necessarily share the same origin. Argentieri is the name of the trade and is common in Apulia; Argenti belongs to Central and Northern Italy. In old registers the same family can appear as Argento or as Argenti.
Are all Argentos related?
No. The surname was born several times, in Sicily, Campania and Apulia, and two Argento families almost always have no ties to each other. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is Dario Argento of Sicilian origin?
Yes. The director was born in Rome in 1940, the son of producer Salvatore Argento, who was born in Perugia to a family of Sicilian origin.
Is the Argento surname noble?
The surname itself is not a sign of nobility. It comes from a craftsman’s trade or from a personal name, and most Argento families never had a coat of arms.
Is there an Argento family coat of arms?
Some branches had one: the archives record one for a Sicilian family and one for a family from Trieste, different from each other. They belonged only to those branches. There is no coat of arms that belongs to all Argentos.
