Where the Faulisi surname comes from
Faulisi is one of those surnames whose meaning nobody can state with certainty. The most concrete theory ties it to the Latin fabūlis, “of the fava beans.” It would be the nickname of a forefather who grew this legume.
The -isi ending is a small mark of Sicilian surnames. The fava bean idea remains a theory, though, and the PDF explains why it should be read with caution.
In the Castelbuono papers
Faulisi isn’t a name born yesterday. In the papers of a town in the Madonie it already appears in the mid-1500s, in the notaries’ deeds of the time. The PDF tells who those first Faulisis were, and what the documents say about them. Alongside it there’s also a heraldic tradition from the North, yet to be proven.
Where the Faulisis live today
Faulisi is a rare surname: there are about 150 families in Italy. Its homeland is the Madonie, the mountains of the province of Palermo, with Castelbuono and Caltavuturo in the lead. A small group lives in the North, in Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia, which arrived partly with the migrations of the 1900s. The rest of the peninsula is almost empty. The map and the countries around the world the Faulisis reached are in the PDF.
Variants
Faulisi has no widespread variants: in the PDF the surname appears only in this form.
FAQ
What does the surname Faulisi mean?
Its meaning is uncertain. The most concrete theory traces it to the Latin fabūlis, “of the fava beans”: it would be the nickname of someone who grew this legume. None of the great surname scholars, though, puts their name to it.
Is Faulisi a Sicilian surname?
Yes. Its homeland is the Madonie, in the province of Palermo, and the -isi ending is typical of Sicilian surnames. A small group lives in the North, mostly in Piedmont.
How long has the Faulisi surname existed?
At least since the 1500s. In the papers of Castelbuono, in the Madonie, a Faulisi already appears in 1559, in the notaries’ deeds of the time.
Are all Faulisis related?
Not necessarily, but the surname is so rare that most people who carry it have roots in the same Madonie hills. To trace your own family you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Faulisi surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility: it may come from a country nickname. Old armorials speak of a Faulisi family from Monferrato, but it’s a tradition without solid documentary proof.
Is there a Faulisi family coat of arms?
That Faulisi family from Monferrato may have had its own coat of arms, but it would have belonged to that branch. No single coat of arms belongs to every Faulisi.
Who was Michele Messina-Faulisi?
He was a scholar of folk traditions, born in Alimena in 1844. He collected the songs and customs of his Madonie town, and in 1871 he wrote Giuseppe Pitrè a letter on the folk songs of Alimena.
