Where the Giacalone surname comes from
The Giacalone surname has two possible paths. The first is a personal name: a dialect form of Giacomo (James), the town’s “big Giacomo.” The second is a place: the locality of Giacalone, between Monreale and San Giuseppe Jato, which takes its name from the Sicilian giacaluni, a kind of dormouse. Which one applies to a family depends on where its roots are: the PDF explains how to tell.
The surname of Mazara del Vallo
Giacalone is the most common surname in the province of Trapani and in the city of Mazara del Vallo, the tip of Sicily that faces Africa. It is a city of fishermen, and it was the fishermen themselves who gave it its treasure, hauled up from the seabed in their nets. The story is in the PDF.
Where the Giacalones live today
Giacalone is a surname of western Sicily, with about 2,650 families in Italy. Off the island the strongest presence is in Lombardy, and abroad there is a curious fact: in one European country there are many more Giacalones than in Argentina. Why, the PDF tells, along with the map.
Variants
Giacalone has no widespread variants: the spelling has stayed the same almost everywhere. A different form in an old record is most likely a mistake by the clerk, who wrote the surname down the way he heard it pronounced.
FAQ
What does the Giacalone surname mean?
There are two paths: a dialect form of Giacomo, the “big Giacomo,” or the place called Giacalone near Monreale, from the Sicilian giacaluni.
Are all Giacalones related?
No. The surname may have been born along different paths and in different families. Only birth records and parish registers can rebuild a family’s history.
Is Giacalone a Sicilian surname?
Yes, from western Sicily. It is the most common surname in the province of Trapani and in Mazara del Vallo, and the families off the island almost all descend from the emigration of the 1900s.
What does giacaluni mean?
In Sicilian it is the name of a kind of dormouse. The place called Giacalone, between Monreale and San Giuseppe Jato, takes its name from it, and it is one of the two possible origins of the surname.
Is there a Giacalone family coat of arms?
The heraldic archives we consulted record no coat of arms for any Giacalone family. Anyone selling a “Giacalone coat of arms” is drawing it on the spot.
Where do the Giacalones come from?
From western Sicily: the surname is #1 in the province of Trapani and in Mazara del Vallo, with another cluster between Palermo and Monreale.
Is the Giacalone surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t mean nobility, and the heraldic archives we consulted record no coat of arms for any Giacalone family. It comes from a personal name or from a place.
