Where the Marchitelli surname comes from
Marchitelli comes from the given name Marco. In the speech of the South, Marco became Marchetto and then Marchitto, two affectionate ways of calling the child of the house. The ending -elli means “the sons of”: the Marchitelli are “the family of Marchitto.” The title of marquis, as people sometimes think, has nothing to do with it.
An old branch in Abruzzo
Alongside the Apulian core, the surname has an Abruzzo branch recorded as early as the 1600s. The most illustrious man in the family came out of that mountain town. The PDF tells who he was and where his path took him.
Where the Marchitelli families live today
Marchitelli is a rare surname of the South: about 1,600 people carry it in Italy. Its heartland is between the Bari area in Apulia and the Matera area in Basilicata, around Montescaglioso. An old branch lives in Abruzzo, around Chieti. More than a quarter of the Marchitelli live outside Italy today, having left with the emigration of the 1800s and 1900s. The PDF has the region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached.
Variants
The PDF records no common variants of Marchitelli. Alongside the surname live a few cousins born from the same name Marco, which the PDF presents one by one.
FAQ
What does the surname Marchitelli mean?
“The sons, the family of Marchitto,” that is, of little Marco. It comes from the given name Marco, through the pet names Marchetto and Marchitto.
Does Marchitelli come from “marchese”?
No. The similar sound makes many people think so, but surname scholars find no such link. The documented root is the name Marco, not a noble title.
Is Marchitelli an Apulian surname?
Largely, yes. Its heartland is in the Bari area, next to the Matera area in Basilicata. There is also an old branch in Abruzzo, around Chieti, and a few families in Campania.
Are Marchitelli and Marchetti the same surname?
No, they are cousin surnames. Both come from the name Marco and are scattered across Italy, but carrying a similar surname does not mean being related.
Are all Marchitelli families related?
No. The surname may have arisen in several places from the same name. To trace your own family’s story you need birth records and parish registers, starting from your family’s town.
Is the Marchitelli surname noble?
No. There is no record of an old noble Marchitelli house: it was a surname of ordinary people, born from a given name.
Is there a Marchitelli family coat of arms?
No documented coat of arms is known. The ones sold online pair the name with a crest that has no real connection to the family.
How many Marchitelli are there in the world?
About 1,600 people in Italy, according to an estimate, and about 2,150 worldwide. Outside Italy they live mostly where Italian emigration led between the 1800s and 1900s.
