Where the Campisi surname comes from
Campisi, pronounced Cam-PEE-see, comes from the Latin campus, “field.” In the Middle Ages notaries called good land, ready to plow and sow, terra campise.
The first Campisi may have lived out among the fields, outside the village, or worked or owned a piece of campise land. The neighbors called him that, and the nickname passed to his children.
A document from the 1200s
The word appears in a notary’s document from the 13th century, written far from Sicily. The PDF explains what that document says, and how the surname became almost entirely Sicilian.
Where the Campisis live today
Campisi is a Sicilian surname, above all from the southeastern part of the island. There are about 2,400 families in Italy, and almost seven Campisis out of ten live in Sicily. The town where it is number one is Portopalo di Capo Passero, the southernmost town on the island. The families in Lombardy and Piedmont come from 20th-century emigration, and more than a third of all Campisis live outside Italy today. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The same tie to the land gave other surnames, across Calabria, Apulia and Sicily. One form keeps the medieval word intact: the PDF explains which one it is, and where the others come from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Campisi | Sicily, Lombardy, Calabria |
| Campese | Apulia, Veneto, Campania |
| Campisano | Calabria, Lazio, Sicily |
| Campise | Calabria, Piedmont, Lombardy |
FAQ
What does the Campisi surname mean?
It comes from the “terra campise” of medieval notaries, that is, farmland, from the Latin campus. It named someone who lived among the fields or worked land to plow and sow.
Is Campisi a Sicilian surname?
Yes. Almost seven out of ten Italian Campisis live in Sicily, mostly in the southeastern part. Outside the island the surname arrived with 20th-century emigration, starting with Lombardy and Piedmont.
How do you pronounce Campisi?
With the stress on the first i: Cam-PEE-see.
Are Campisi and Campise the same surname?
They have the same origin. Campise keeps the medieval word just as it was and is mostly Calabrian. Until the 1800s the surname was written by whoever kept the register, and the same family can appear in both forms.
Are all Campisis related?
No. Two Campisi families can have completely different stories, with no tie between them. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Campisi surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility. It comes from the land and is the surname of families of farmers, fishermen and craftsmen.
Is there a Campisi family coat of arms?
The archives record the coat of arms of a Campisi family from Sicily, but it belonged to that specific branch. There is no coat of arms for all the Campisis.
