Where the Longo surname comes from
Longo comes from the Latin longus, “long.” It was the nickname of a tall or very thin man: in a village with three men named Giovanni, the tallest became Giovanni the Long. The nickname passed to his children and grandchildren, even the short ones.
That is how many Italian surnames were born, like Grasso, Piccolo and Russo. The first traces of Longo in documents go back to the 12th century.
A captain and a saint
In 1453 a Genoese captain named Longo defended the walls of a besieged capital to the very end. Four centuries later, a lawyer from Apulia came to a poor valley and built an entire city around it: today he is a saint. Their stories are in the PDF.
Where the Longos live today
Longo is a surname found all over Italy, because everywhere there was someone taller than the rest. There are about 14,700 families. The highest numbers are in Apulia and Sicily, but the surname is also strong in the Veneto, where it arose on its own. The town where it ranks first is Tusa, on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world where they settled are in the PDF.
Variants
Every dialect has its own word for “long,” and the surname took different forms from Lombardy to Sardinia. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Longo | Apulia, Sicily, Veneto |
| Longhi | Lombardy |
| Luongo | Campania |
| Longhitano | Sicily |
| Longa | Lombardy, Veneto |
| Longu | Sardinia |
FAQ
What does the surname Longo mean?
It comes from the Latin longus, “long.” It was the nickname of a tall or very thin man, which later became the family’s name.
Is Longo a surname from Apulia or from Sicily?
Both, and from the Veneto too. It is the tenth most common surname in Apulia and the seventh in the province of Lecce. Sicily has the town where it ranks first, Tusa, and in the Veneto the surname arose on its own.
Are Longo and Luongo the same surname?
Yes, they have the same origin. Luongo is the form from Campania, with the Neapolitan diphthong. In the same way, Longu is the Sardinian form and Longhi the Lombard plural.
Are all Longos related?
No. The nickname was born in many different towns, wherever there was a man taller than the rest. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Longo surname noble?
The surname itself does not mean nobility: it comes from a nickname given to a tall man, in many different towns. Only documents can tell which branch a family comes from.
Is there a Longo family coat of arms?
Heraldic archives record the coats of arms of individual Longo families, such as one from Rome with a crowned blue lion. Each belonged to that branch: there is no coat of arms that belongs to every Longo.
