Where the Cucuzza surname comes from
Cucuzza comes from the Sicilian cucuzza, “squash,” which in turn comes from the Late Latin cucutia. It was a nickname: maybe for the long shape of the first Cucuzza’s head, maybe for his character. In many dialects of the South, calling someone a “squash” can be a scolding or a caress. Then the nickname passed to the children and became the family’s name.
The oldest squash in Europe
The cucuzza of Sicilian pergolas is a long green gourd that can grow longer than a yard. Its history goes back much further than the squashes we know today, and Roman writers were already talking about it. The PDF tells why it’s special, and what it has to do with the discovery of America.
Where the Cucuzzas live today
Cucuzza is a surname of Sicily: most of the roughly 470 Italian families live here, especially in the provinces of Catania and Palermo. The town where it counts most is Palagonia, on the plain of the blood oranges, where it’s the ninth most common surname. Off the island you’ll find it in Lombardy and Piedmont, brought there by 20th-century emigration. Two out of three Cucuzzas live in Italy. The map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The same squash gave the surname three forms, all Sicilian. The PDF explains what sets them apart.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Cucuzza | Sicily, Lombardy, Piedmont |
| Cocuzza | Sicily, Lombardy, Lazio |
| Cucuzzella | Sicily, Lombardy, Piedmont |
FAQ
What does the surname Cucuzza mean?
In Sicilian, cucuzza is a squash, from the Late Latin cucutia. The surname comes from a nickname, maybe for the shape of the first Cucuzza’s head, maybe for his character.
Is Cucuzza a Sicilian surname?
Yes. Most of the families live in Sicily, especially in the provinces of Catania and Palermo. In the North, in Lombardy and Piedmont, it arrived with 20th-century emigration.
Are Cucuzza and Cocuzza the same surname?
They come from the same word, squash. Cocuzza is almost as common as Cucuzza, and until the 1800s the same family could appear in the registers in both forms.
Are all Cucuzzas related?
No. A nickname like this one was born in many different places. Two Cucuzza families aren’t necessarily related, even if almost all of them come from Sicily. To find out you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Cucuzza surname noble?
The surname comes from a vegetable-garden nickname and doesn’t indicate nobility in itself. One Cucuzza family of Sicily had a coat of arms, but it belonged only to that branch.
Is there a Cucuzza family coat of arms?
One Cucuzza family of Sicily had a blue coat of arms with a squash plant and three golden fruits. It belonged to that branch, not to every Cucuzza: no coat of arms belongs to the surname as a whole.
Is Cucuzza a surname from Catania?
Largely, yes: the families live mostly in the provinces of Catania and Palermo. In Palagonia, on the plain of Catania, Cucuzza is the town’s ninth most common surname.
