Where the Mancini surname comes from
Mancini comes from a nickname: that of the mancino, the man who used his left hand. The word comes from the Latin mancus, “maimed, weak”: the left was considered the weak hand. In the Middle Ages a left-hander stood out right away, and the nickname passed to his children. Mancini, ending in -i, means precisely the left-hander’s family.
Five sisters at the court of France
In the 1600s a Mancini family from Rome got all of Europe talking. Five sisters left for Paris, and one of them came very close to the throne of France. The PDF tells how it all ended, along with the other side of the nickname: in a duel, a left-hander was an awkward opponent.
Where the Mancinis live today
Mancini is a surname of Central Italy. There are about 19,200 families, and their heart is Lazio, where it is the second most common surname in the region. It is also strong in Tuscany and the Marche. The city where it ranks number one is Senigallia, on the Adriatic. About a third of the Mancinis 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 nickname took a different form in the South, in the Veneto and in the Marche. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Mancini | Lazio, Tuscany, Marche |
| Mancinelli | Marche, Lazio, Umbria |
| Mancino | Campania, Apulia, Sicily |
| Mancin | Veneto, Piedmont, Lombardy |
FAQ
What does the surname Mancini mean?
It points to the family of the mancino, the man who used his left hand. It comes from the Latin mancus, “maimed, weak,” because the left was considered the weak hand.
Is Mancini a surname from Rome?
It is a surname of Central Italy, and Lazio is the region where it is strongest: it is the second most common surname in the region and in the province of Rome. It is also very common in Tuscany and the Marche.
Are Mancini and Mancino the same surname?
They come from the same nickname. Mancini, with the family -i, is the form of Central Italy; Mancino is the southern form, in Campania, Apulia and Sicily. In old records the same family can appear in different forms.
Are all Mancinis related?
No. Thousands of towns had a left-hander, and two Mancini families almost always have no ties to each other. To trace your own story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Mancini surname noble?
The surname itself does not mean nobility. There were noble Mancini families in Rome, Siena and Velletri. But most of Italy’s Mancinis descend from a simple left-handed ancestor.
Is there a Mancini family coat of arms?
The archives record the coats of arms of a few noble Mancini families, each tied to that branch. There is no coat of arms that belongs to every Mancini.
