Where the Lo Coco surname comes from
Lo Coco means “the cook.” Coco was the old southern and Sicilian form of cuoco, “cook,” from the Latin cocus. With the article in front, it marked the person who did the cooking, and the trade nickname passed from father to son. The scholar Gerhard Rohlfs lists it exactly this way in his dictionary of Sicilian surnames.
An old name, at home in Sicily
Born from a humble trade, Lo Coco is a surname documented in Sicily for centuries. The oldest records point to a town in the Messina area, more than four hundred years ago. In the 1600s and 1700s a Lo Coco painted works for the churches of eastern Sicily, and went by a nickname that’s hard to forget. The PDF tells their stories.
Where Lo Coco families live today
Lo Coco is an entirely Sicilian surname: about 1,100 people carry it in Italy. Its stronghold is the Palermo area, with Santa Flavia and Termini Imerese. A second, old group lives around Etna, between Acireale and the towns on the volcano’s slopes. Small groups in Lombardy, Lazio and Tuscany came with the migrations of the 1900s. The PDF has the region-by-region map and the numbers around the world.
Variants
The PDF has no table of variants: alongside Lo Coco, scholars record the simple form Coco.
FAQ
What does the surname Lo Coco mean?
It means “the cook.” Coco was the old southern form of cuoco, from the Latin cocus: it was the nickname of someone who worked as a cook.
Is Lo Coco a Sicilian surname?
Yes. Almost all Lo Coco families live in Sicily, especially in the Palermo area and around Etna. The families in Lombardy, Lazio and Tuscany arrived with the migrations of the 1900s.
Are Lo Coco and Coco the same surname?
They have the same origin, the cook. The scholar Rohlfs lists Lo Coco, with the article, next to the simple form Coco.
How many people named Lo Coco are there in Italy?
About 1,100, by a cautious estimate, almost all in Sicily. Abroad the surname is rare and too scattered to form real communities.
Are all Lo Coco families related?
No. A trade nickname could arise in many towns, among different families. To trace your own family’s story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Lo Coco surname noble?
No. It comes from a trade, the cook’s, and no noble title is linked to the surname as a whole.
Is there a Lo Coco family coat of arms?
No. The old heraldic collections record no Lo Coco family of note, and no single coat of arms belongs to every Lo Coco family.
Where do you start searching for Lo Coco ancestors?
From the family’s exact town. In Sicily civil records begin in 1820; before that date, Lo Coco ancestors are found in the parish registers, town by town.
