Where the Bove surname comes from
Bove is the old Italian word for “ox,” from the Latin bos, bovis. For centuries the ox pulled the plow and the cart all over Italy. That’s how its name became the name of many families.
The first Bove was perhaps an oxherd, a breeder or an ox trader. Or the name was a nickname, given to a big, strong and patient man. Some families may have taken the name from a place. The PDF tells how the ox left its mark on the map of Italy.
From the Siberian ice to the squares of Moscow
Two Bove men of the 1800s took the surname very far from the fields. The first was a navy officer who set out on a voyage no one had ever completed. The second was the son of a Neapolitan painter and became an architect in Russia, after a fire had destroyed a capital. Their stories are in the PDF.
Where the Bove families live today
Bove is found all over Italy, but its heart is Campania, between Caserta, Naples and Salerno. There are about 3,500 families in Italy, and after Campania come Lazio and Apulia. The town where the surname is strongest is Maddaloni, in the province of Caserta. In the North live both families who came from the South and families who have carried the surname for centuries. More than half of the world’s Bove families live in Italy. The region-by-region map and the countries they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
Every region gave the ox its own form, from Piedmont to Sicily. The PDF explains which surnames are cousins of Bove, and where they live.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Bove | Campania, Lazio, Apulia |
| Bova | Calabria, Sicily, Campania |
| Bovio | Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy |
| Bovi | Lazio, Lombardy, Campania |
| Lo Bue | Sicily, Piedmont, Lombardy |
FAQ
What does the Bove surname mean?
Bove is the old Italian word for “ox,” from the Latin bos, bovis. It may have named the trade of the first Bove, an oxherd or a breeder, or it was a nickname for a strong, patient man.
Is Bove a surname from Campania?
Yes, its heart is Campania, between Caserta, Naples and Salerno. In Maddaloni it is the town’s sixth most common surname. It is found all over Italy, though, especially in Lazio and Apulia.
Are Bove and Bova the same surname?
They come from the same word, the ox, but they were born in different places. Bova is mostly Calabrian and can also come from the town of Bova, in the province of Reggio Calabria.
Are all Bove families related?
No. A surname born from a trade or a nickname appears in many different places, among families with no ties to each other. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Bove surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility: it comes from a farm word. In the 1700s, in Solofra, the Bove were among the town’s notable families, but that is one specific branch.
Is there a Bove family coat of arms?
A Bove family from Ravello had a coat of arms with a gold ox on a green field. It belonged to that branch, not to all the Bove families. There is no coat of arms for the whole surname.
Are Bove and Lo Bue the same surname?
They come from the same word, the ox: Lo Bue, with the article, is the Sicilian form. They were born in different places, so the families aren’t necessarily related.
