Where the Cataldi surname comes from
Cataldi comes from the medieval name Cataldo, which is Irish in origin. It spread in Italy thanks to Saint Cataldus, a monk from Ireland who became bishop of Taranto. The final “i” marks the family, “Cataldo’s people”: that’s how the name of the head of a family passed to his children and grandchildren. Scholars also point to other possible paths, which the PDF describes.
The ring in the sea of Taranto
The saint the surname comes from set out from Ireland as a pilgrim bound for the Holy Land and ended his life in Apulia. For centuries the people of Taranto have told a legend about that voyage, tied to a storm and to one precise spot in their sea. There, to this day, something bears his name. The history and the legend are in the PDF, along with the story of a mathematician from Bologna who hunted for perfect numbers.
Where the Cataldis live today
Cataldi is above all a surname from Apulia, and its center is the Salento. There are about 1,500 families in Italy. The city most tied to the surname is Gallipoli, where it is the sixth most common surname. It is also well represented in Lazio and has lines in Sicily, Basilicata and Calabria. About six Cataldis out of ten live in Italy, the others mostly in the Americas. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The same saint’s name gave several surnames, and one is even more common than Cataldi. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Cataldi | Apulia, Lazio, Sicily |
| Cataldo | Campania, Apulia, Sicily |
| Di Cataldo | Apulia, Sicily, Piedmont |
| Cataudo | Campania, Calabria, Sicily |
FAQ
What does the Cataldi surname mean?
It means “son of Cataldo,” or “Cataldo’s people.” Cataldo is a name of Irish origin, which spread in Italy thanks to Saint Cataldus, bishop of Taranto.
Is Cataldi a surname from Apulia?
Yes, above all. Its center is the Salento, and in Gallipoli it is the city’s sixth most common surname. It is also well represented in Lazio, though, and has lines in Sicily, Basilicata and Calabria.
Are Cataldi and Cataldo the same surname?
They come from the same name, the saint’s. Cataldo is the name used just as it is as a surname, and it is even more common. Until the 1800s the same family could appear in both forms.
Who was Saint Cataldus?
A monk born in Ireland at the beginning of the 7th century. He set out as a pilgrim for the Holy Land, reached Apulia, became bishop of Taranto and is now its patron saint.
Are all Cataldis related?
No. The name Cataldo was given in many different places, wherever the saint was loved, and two Cataldi families almost always have no ties. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Cataldi surname noble?
A 19th-century dictionary of noble families mentions a Cataldi family from Genoa, with branches in Rome and Naples. That was one specific branch: most Cataldis come from the saint’s name, in the South.
Is there a Cataldi family coat of arms?
If the Cataldi family of Genoa had a coat of arms, it was theirs and not that of all the Cataldis. The surname was born as many times as there were fathers named Cataldo: there is no coat of arms for all of them.
