Where the Grasso surname comes from
Grasso, “fat,” comes from a nickname that was once almost a compliment. When hunger was a constant guest and meat was eaten only a few times a year, a fat man was sturdy, well fed, healthy. Someone who was doing well. Then the nickname passed from the founder to his children and grandchildren, who may well have been skinny.
The surname is old: a Landolfo Grasso appears in Milan as early as 1191. A nickname this simple could be born anywhere, and in fact it was born in many different places.
A pirate and an actor
At the end of the 12th century a Grasso who had left Genoa as a merchant ended up leading a fleet and governing a Mediterranean island. Seven centuries later, a Grasso who grew up among the puppets of Catania performed in Moscow and New York. The great masters of the theater never forgot him. Their stories are in the PDF.
Where the Grassos live today
Grasso is found all over Italy, but mostly in the South. There are about 7,900 families in Italy, with Sicily and Campania in the lead and an old branch in Piedmont. Its kingdom is the province of Catania, and the city where it is the top surname is Acireale, between Mount Etna and the sea. Many Grassos live overseas today. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world where the family settled are in the PDF.
Variants
The same nickname took different forms from North to South, and one of them is even more common than Grasso. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Grassi | Lombardy, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna |
| Grasso | Sicily, Campania, Piedmont |
| Grassini | Tuscany, Lombardy, Umbria |
| Grassia | Campania, Sicily |
| Grassano | Piedmont, Liguria |
FAQ
What does the Grasso surname mean?
It was a nickname for a sturdy, well-fed, healthy person. In the centuries of hunger it was a wish for good fortune, almost a compliment, and then it became a family name.
Is Grasso a Sicilian surname?
Largely, yes: it is the 16th most common surname in Sicily and the most common surname in Acireale. But it is found all over Italy, with a large branch in Campania and old families in Piedmont and Liguria.
Are Grasso and Grassi the same surname?
They have the same origin. Grassi is the plural form, typical of central and northern Italy, and it is even more common than Grasso. Until the 1800s the same surname could shift from one form to the other, from one clerk’s pen to the next.
Are all Grassos related?
No. A nickname this simple was born in many different places, from families that were not related. To rebuild your own family history you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Grasso surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t mean nobility. Some Grasso families held titles, like the counts of Santa Cristina in Mondovì, but most come from ordinary families.
Is there a Grasso family coat of arms?
Heraldic archives record different coats of arms for Grasso families, in Molfetta, Mondovì and Casale Monferrato, and they look nothing alike. There is no single coat of arms for all Grassos.
