Where the Lombardo surname comes from
Lombardo is a surname of origin: it described a stranger who had “come from Lombardy.” But in the Middle Ages Lombardy meant almost all of northern Italy, the land that had belonged to the Longobards. A “Lombard” could come from Milan, Piedmont, Liguria or Emilia. The nickname passed to the children and became the family’s surname.
A northern surname in the heart of Sicily
The surname says “man from the North,” yet it lives mostly in the South. The reason lies in a great migration of the Middle Ages, which reached the island in the time of the Normans. In some Sicilian towns you can still find surprising traces of it today. The PDF tells this story, and how the same word became the name of a street in London.
Where the Lombardos live today
Lombardo is one of the most common surnames in Sicily: it is the fourth on the whole island. In Italy there are about 12,800 families. In the province of Caltanissetta it is the top surname, and in Alcamo it is the most common in town. Outside Sicily it is strong in Lombardy and Piedmont, and almost half of the Lombardos live outside Italy today. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world where they settled are in the PDF.
Variants
The same name took different forms between the North, Campania and Sicily. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Lombardo | Sicily, Lombardy, Piedmont |
| Lombardi | Lombardy, Tuscany, Campania |
| Longobardi | Campania, Lazio, Lombardy |
| Lombardini | Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany |
| Lombardozzi | Lazio, Molise, Abruzzo |
| Longobardo | Campania, Sicily, Lombardy |
FAQ
What does the surname Lombardo mean?
“Come from Lombardy,” that is, from northern Italy: in the Middle Ages it was the nickname for strangers who arrived from up there. The word comes from the name of the Longobards.
Is Lombardo a Sicilian surname?
Yes, above all. It is the fourth most common surname in Sicily, the first in the province of Caltanissetta and the most common in Alcamo. It is also found in Lombardy and Piedmont.
Are Lombardo and Lombardi the same surname?
They have the same origin. In Central and Northern Italy the form ending in -i took hold, in the South and above all in Sicily the one ending in -o. In old records the same family can appear in both forms.
Are all Lombardos related?
No. In a thousand towns someone was called “the Lombard” because he came from elsewhere, sometimes centuries apart. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Do all the Lombardos of Sicily come from the North?
It can’t be said for all of them. The nickname was given to anyone who arrived from the North, at different times. Only family documents can tell where a branch comes from.
Is the Lombardo surname noble?
The surname itself does not mean nobility. The archives record a Lombardo family of Sicily, barons of Gibellina, but almost all Lombardo families were farmers, craftsmen and fishermen.
Is there a Lombardo family coat of arms?
A coat of arms belonged to one specific branch of a family. The one of the barons of Gibellina was theirs alone. There is no coat of arms that belongs to every Lombardo.
