Where the Bongiorno surname comes from
Bongiorno is the buongiorno, “good morning,” that Italians say to each other every day. In the Middle Ages it was a real first name, given to a child so he would bring good days to himself and his family. It was one of the auspicious names, like Benvenuto or Bentivoglio. Then the name of the head of the family passed to his children, “those of Bongiorno,” and became a surname. That’s why it was born in so many different places.
From a Sicilian village to television
In 1892 a Bongiorno left a small village in the hills above Palermo and set out for New York. His grandson grew up in Turin, lived through the war and the Resistance, and in 1954 opened the first broadcasts of Italian television. The PDF tells the story of that family, and of the quiz show that emptied the theaters and bars on Saturday nights.
Where the Bongiornos live today
Bongiorno is a Sicilian surname: there are about 1,700 families in Italy. Most live on the island, from Palermo to Catania, from Agrigento to Messina. The record is in Antillo, in the Peloritani Mountains, where Bongiorno is the second most common surname in town. It reached Lombardy and Piedmont mostly with the emigration of the 1900s, and there is a small branch in Apulia. Many Bongiornos live outside Italy today. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The same wish took three forms in different parts of Italy. The PDF shows where each one is concentrated.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Bongiorno | Sicily, Lombardy, Piedmont |
| Buongiorno | Apulia, Campania, Lombardy |
| Bongiorni | Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany |
FAQ
What does the surname Bongiorno mean?
“Good day.” It was an auspicious medieval name, given to children so they would bring good days, which later became a family name.
Is Bongiorno a Sicilian surname?
Yes. Most Bongiorno families live in Sicily, and those in Lombardy and Piedmont arrived mostly with the emigration of the 1900s. There is a small branch in Apulia, probably a secondary one.
Are Bongiorno and Buongiorno the same surname?
They come from the same wish. Buongiorno, with the “u,” is the form closest to today’s Italian and is mostly from Apulia and Campania. In old registers the same family can appear in both forms.
Are all Bongiornos related?
No. The name Bongiorno was given in many different places, because it was a wish everyone liked. Two Bongiorno families almost always have no ties to each other. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Was Mike Bongiorno of Sicilian origin?
Yes. He was born in New York in 1924, but his father’s family came from the province of Palermo. The story of his emigrant grandfather is in the PDF.
Is the Bongiorno surname noble?
The surname itself is not a sign of nobility. It comes from an auspicious name given to many children, and most Bongiorno families never had a coat of arms.
Is there a Bongiorno family coat of arms?
If a Bongiorno family from Palermo or Trapani had a coat of arms, it belonged to that one branch. There is no coat of arms that belongs to all Bongiornos.
