Where the D’Amico surname comes from
D’Amico means “son of Amico.” In the Middle Ages Amico was a personal name, from the Latin amicus, “friend,” a close relative of the verb amare, “to love.” It was an auspicious name: parents chose it hoping for a child who would be kind and good at friendship. The son of an Amico became “d’Amico,” and that name stayed with the family.
A castle with your surname
In the hills inland from Agrigento stand the ruins of a castle built on top of a huge boulder. It bears the name of a D’Amico, its lord long ago. The PDF tells who he was, what’s left of the castle today and which famous novel it appears in.
Where the D’Amicos live today
D’Amico is found all over Italy, but its heart is Sicily. There are about 10,200 families in Italy; after Sicily come Lazio, Abruzzo and Apulia. In Abruzzo it’s one of the strongest surnames in the region. The town where it ranks number one is Randazzo, on the northern slope of Mount Etna. Between the 1800s and the 1900s many families left, above all for the United States. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The same name gave different surnames from one region to another: with the preposition, without it, in the plural or in Latin. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| D’Amico | Sicily, Lazio, Abruzzo |
| Amici | Lazio, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna |
| Amico | Sicily, Lombardy, Apulia |
| De Amicis | Abruzzo, Lazio, Lombardy |
| Amicone | Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio |
| Dell’Amico | Tuscany, Liguria, Lombardy |
FAQ
What does the surname D’Amico mean?
“Son of Amico.” Amico was an auspicious medieval name, from the Latin amicus, “friend”; sometimes it was short for Bonamico, “good friend.”
Is D’Amico a Sicilian surname?
Mostly, but not only. Its heart is Sicily, where it’s the most common surname in Randazzo. It’s also very strong in Lazio, Abruzzo and Apulia: in the province of Pescara it’s the second most common surname.
Are D’Amico and Damico the same surname?
Yes. Until the 1800s the surname was spelled by whoever kept the register. The same family can appear with the apostrophe, without it, or with De instead of D’. Abroad the apostrophe is often lost.
Are D’Amico and De Amicis the same surname?
They come from the same name. De Amicis is the Latin form used by notaries, “of the Amici,” and it’s more common in Abruzzo and Lazio.
Are all D’Amicos related?
No. In many towns there was a man called Amico who passed his name to his children, and two D’Amico families can have very different stories. To trace your own you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the D’Amico surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility: it comes from a personal name. Some D’Amico families were noble, for example in Messina, Milazzo and Catania, but they were specific branches.
Is there a D’Amico family coat of arms?
The noble D’Amico families had coats of arms of their own. No single coat of arms belongs to every D’Amico, and most families never had one.
