Where the Meccia surname comes from
Meccia is a surname with a debated origin, and two possible paths that lead far apart. The first goes all the way back to ancient Rome, to the gens Maecia or the Latin name Maecius. The second leads to Domenico: one of its affectionate forms would have given “Domenico’s family.” No old document settles the question.
A word coined for a Meccia
A Meccia from Ferrara is tied to a word that everyone in Italy uses today. That word was coined just for him, at a record company. The PDF tells which word it was, and which song with a rolling tin can.
Where the Meccia families live today
Meccia is a rare surname: there are about 100 families in Italy. It has two hearts far apart: Sicily, home to the largest group, and Molise. In Castelverrino, in the province of Isernia, it is the top surname of one of the smallest towns in Italy. Other families moved up to Emilia, Lazio and Tuscany for work in the 1900s. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The PDF records no common variants of Meccia.
FAQ
What does the surname Meccia mean?
Its origin is debated. It may come from the Roman gens Maecia or the Latin name Maecius. Or from an affectionate form of Domenico, in which case it would mean “Domenico’s family.”
Is Meccia a Sicilian or a Molise surname?
Both. The largest group lives in Sicily, though scattered; Molise has the town where it is the top surname, Castelverrino. The families in Emilia, Lazio and Tuscany arrived in the 1900s.
How many Meccias are there in Italy?
Very few: about 100 families, a little under three hundred people by a cautious estimate.
Are all Meccias related?
Not necessarily. But the surname is so rare that, within the same town, people who carry it have a good chance of belonging to related families. To find out you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Meccia surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility. In all likelihood it comes from the personal name of ordinary people, and most Meccia families never had a coat of arms.
Is there a Meccia family coat of arms?
No single coat of arms belongs to every Meccia. If a Meccia family ever had its own seal, it belonged to that branch and that house.
Where do you start searching for Meccia ancestors?
In Molise civil records begin in 1809, in Sicily in 1820. Before that you search the parish registers. For a surname this rare, nearly every record leads back to the same few families.
