Where the Menanno surname comes from
The origin of Menanno is disputed. The strongest theory leads to Menna, an old medieval given name. It was common in the belt that runs from Lazio through Molise to Apulia. Menanno is probably a local lengthened form: “the family of Menna.”
A surname from a single town
There is another theory, pointing to a village that vanished centuries ago. The PDF explains why it is less likely, and why the story of this surname is traced to one exact town.
Where the Menanno families live today
Menanno is a very rare surname: about 70 people carry it in Italy, almost all in Molise, in the town of Riccia, in the province of Campobasso. A small group lives in Lazio, and a few families in Apulia. Outside Italy there are now more Menanno than in Italy. The PDF has the region-by-region map and the countries around the world they reached.
Variants
The PDF records no variants of Menanno: the surname is so rare that it appears in a single form.
FAQ
What does the surname Menanno mean?
Its origin is disputed. Most likely it comes from the old given name Menna, common in central and southern Italy since the Middle Ages, and means “of the family of Menna.” At its root is the name of a distant forefather.
Is Menanno a Molise surname?
Yes. Almost all the Menanno of Italy come from Riccia, in the province of Campobasso. The surname has been rooted there for generations and already appears in 19th-century records. A second small group lives in Lazio, and a few families in Apulia.
How many Menanno are there in the world?
About 70 in Italy and about 160 worldwide, according to cautious estimates. Almost half live in the United States, where Molise emigration led.
Are all Menanno families related?
With numbers this small, they very likely descend from a single old Molise family. Only birth records and parish registers can tell how.
Are Menanno and Menna the same surname?
They share the same root, the old name Menna. Menanno almost certainly belongs to that small family of surnames, as a local lengthened form.
Is the Menanno surname noble?
No. It was a family of ordinary people from a town in Molise, not a noble house.
Is there a Menanno family coat of arms?
No coat of arms tied to the surname is known. If you find one for sale as the “Menanno coat of arms,” remember that a surname has never had a coat of arms of its own.
How do I trace the ancestors of a Menanno?
Start from Riccia. In Molise civil records are in the archives from 1809; before that you search parish registers, with baptisms and marriages kept after the Council of Trent in 1563.
