Where the Meli surname comes from
Meli comes from the medieval name Mele, which in turn comes from honey. In Sicilian, honey is still called meli today. The first Meli may have been a beekeeper or a honey seller. Or he was such a kind person that he earned the nickname “sweet as honey.” Honey was made in every town, so the surname was born in many different places.
A poet and a family of princes
The most famous Meli was born in Palermo in the 1700s, the son of a goldsmith. He earned his living as a doctor, but he is remembered for his poetry. Everyone called him “abbot,” even though he never was one. Far from Sicily, a noble branch in Cremona rose to the title of prince. Their stories are in the PDF.
Where the Meli families live today
Meli is above all a Sicilian surname: there are about 3,400 families in Italy, and it ranks among the top hundred surnames in Sicily. The town where it is number one is Comiso, at the foot of the Hyblaean Mountains. But it also has old roots in Tuscany, Lazio, Emilia and Sardinia. In Lombardy there are old Lombard families as well as families who came from Sicily in the 1900s. The region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached are in the PDF.
Variants
The same honey gave three surnames, each in its own dialect. The PDF explains where each one comes from.
| Surname | Where it is concentrated |
|---|---|
| Meli | Sicily, Lombardy, Tuscany |
| Mele | Apulia, Campania, Sardinia |
| Melis | Sardinia |
FAQ
What does the surname Meli mean?
“Honey.” It comes from the medieval name Mele and referred to someone who made or sold honey, or to a person who was “sweet as honey.”
Is Meli a Sicilian surname?
Mostly. It ranks among the top hundred surnames in Sicily and is number one in Comiso, in the province of Ragusa. But it also has old roots in Tuscany, Lazio, Emilia, Sardinia and Lombardy.
Are Meli, Mele and Melis the same surname?
They share the same root, honey, but they are three different surnames. Mele is the closest to the old medieval name and is strong in Apulia and Campania. Melis comes from the Sardinian word for honey.
Are all Melis related?
No. Honey was made in every town, and every town had its “Meli”: two Meli families almost never have any link. To trace your own family’s story you need birth records and parish registers.
Is the Meli surname noble?
The surname itself doesn’t indicate nobility. A noble Meli family lived in Cremona, and from it came the Meli Lupi, princes of Soragna. But almost all Melis today come from different families, born in many towns from an ancestor linked to honey.
Is there a Meli family coat of arms?
The archives record the arms of the Meli Lupi, princes of Soragna, but those were theirs. No single coat of arms belongs to every Meli, and most Meli families never had one.
