Where the Catania surname comes from
Catania is a place surname: it named “the one from Catania,” someone who came from the city. That’s why city surnames were born mostly outside the city: you only become “the one from Catania” when you live somewhere else. The surname was born many times, from different people, and has no single founder. The archives also record a noble branch, with fiefs and a barony: its story is in the PDF.
The city’s name
Catania was founded by the Greeks under the name Katane. Scholars don’t agree on where that name came from: the three theories, one of which involves a grater, are in the PDF.
Where the Catanias live today
Catania is a Sicilian surname, with about 3,900 families in Italy, but its heart is the island’s interior more than the Ionian coast: in Regalbuto, in the province of Enna, it is the town’s second most common surname. Outside Sicily it is strongest in Lombardy, and more than ten thousand Catanias live abroad, including in countries you wouldn’t expect. The map and the countries are in the PDF.
Variants
The main variant is Catanese, the same surname said as an adjective. In Sicily many families bear the name of a city: the PDF tells which ones, and how many.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Catania | Sicily, then Lombardy |
| Catanese | Sicily, above all Palermo and Messina |
FAQ
What does the Catania surname mean?
“The one from Catania”: it named someone who came from the city, or whose trade tied them to it, like a merchant or a muleteer.
Is the Catania surname noble?
The archives record a noble branch, but the surname was born many times among ordinary people who came from the city. Bearing it doesn’t tell which branch a family comes from.
Do people named Catania have ancestors from Catania?
Probably an ancestor, many centuries ago, came from the city or had dealings with it. But the surname was born outside Catania, and today it is more common around Enna than in the city. To know where a family comes from you need birth records and parish registers.
Is there a Catania family coat of arms?
Heraldic archives record the coat of arms of a Catania family from Sicily, but it belonged to that branch, not to all the Catanias. And it shouldn’t be confused with the city’s coat of arms.
Are Catania and Catanese the same surname?
They have the same origin: someone who came from the city. Catanese is the adjective form, “the Catanese,” and is more frequent between Palermo and Messina.
Are all Catanias related?
No. The surname was born many times, from different people who came from the same city and weren’t related to each other. Only documents can rebuild a family’s story.
Is Catania a Sicilian surname?
Yes: it is the 47th most common surname in Sicily, and its heart is the island’s interior, above all the province of Enna. Outside Sicily it is strongest in Lombardy.
