Where the Fantauzzo surname comes from
Fantauzzo comes from the medieval name Fante, which meant “boy, young man, farmhand.” At its root is Latin infans, “one who does not yet speak.” Sicily added the suffix -uzzo, affectionate and diminutive: Fantauzzo sounds like “the little Fante,” “the young one of the family.”
A family of cousin surnames
Fantauzzo has cousins all over Italy, born from the same root. One of them was made famous by the movies. The PDF explains why sharing a similar surname does not mean being related, and tells which Fantauzzos left their mark.
Where the Fantauzzos live today
Fantauzzo is a rare Sicilian surname. There are about 260 families in Italy, almost all in Sicily. Its heartland is the Agrigento area, with the town of Grotte. The families in Piedmont and Tuscany came with the migrations of the 1900s. The PDF has the region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached.
Variants
Fantauzzo has cousin surnames such as Fantauzzi, Fantozzi and Fantucci. The PDF explains why they are not related.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Fantauzzo | Sicily, especially the Agrigento area |
| Fantauzzi | Lazio, Abruzzo, Umbria |
| Fantozzi | Tuscany, Lazio |
| Fantucci | Lazio, Tuscany |
FAQ
What does the surname Fantauzzo mean?
“The little Fante.” Fante is an old name that meant “boy, young man,” and -uzzo is an affectionate Sicilian suffix.
Is Fantauzzo a Sicilian surname?
Yes. About 700 Fantauzzos live in Italy, the great majority in Sicily, in the Agrigento area. The town most closely tied to the name is Grotte. The families in Piedmont and Tuscany arrived with the migrations of the 1900s.
Is Fantauzzo related to Fantauzzi and Fantozzi?
They share a root, the old name Fante, but each surname was born on its own in its own land. Fantauzzi is from central Italy, and Fantozzi is mostly from Tuscany and Lazio. The suffix -uzzo is the typically Sicilian form.
Does Fantauzzo have anything to do with the fante, the soldier?
Only from afar. The word fante comes from Latin infans, “one who does not yet speak,” and came to mean a farmhand or young servant. The sense of “foot soldier” came later.
Are all Fantauzzos related?
Not all, but it is a rare and concentrated surname. People from Grotte or the nearby towns have a good chance of tracing back to a common branch.
Is the Fantauzzo surname noble?
No. It was born among ordinary people in the towns of the Agrigento area, not in the courts. The Fantauzzos do not appear in heraldic collections with a coat of arms of their own.
Is there a Fantauzzo family coat of arms?
No. There is no coat of arms that belongs to all Fantauzzos, and almost no Fantauzzo family ever had one.
Where do you look for Fantauzzo ancestors?
In Sicily, civil registration begins in 1820; before that you use parish registers, kept after the Council of Trent in 1563. It is best to start from the family’s specific town, Grotte first of all.
